


The Unexpected Heir

by Nagabelle



Series: Unexpected [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Dubious Consent, M/M, Omegaverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-19 03:11:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2372390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nagabelle/pseuds/Nagabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Evans hadn't even known what an omega was until just before he turned 16.  Now, not only was he an omega, he was about to find out exactly who he was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Enjoyable Encounters

Severus pulled himself carefully out of Harry's body and flopped down on the bed beside him. His head swam from the powerful orgasm and the feeling on the newly-born bond swirling between the two of them. If it hadn't been for the bond telling him that Harry was currently lost in bliss, Severus would have been worried – at the point where they'd simultaneously come together and bonded, Harry's eyes had rolled back in his head and he was currently doing a very good impression of someone in a coma.

Severus felt himself blush as he remembered how he'd spoken to Harry – his alpha side had come roaring out, determined to claim his omega and remind him of his place, under Severus, with his legs spread. Severus groaned, finally understanding why society generally regarded alphas as powerful, majestic, but at the same time, at the mercy of their hormones.

He rolled over, to stare at Harry, the source of his… downfall? Harry looked as lovely as he always did; smooth skinned, athletic, but now with the unmistakeable glow of a freshly bonded omega. Severus lay content, watching Harry's newly grown breasts rise and fall as he dozed. They were a little larger than he'd expected them to be – not large by modern society's standards, but certainly large enough that when they went out in public, the Muggles would see Harry as an androgynous girl, rather than a boy.

Severus reached out to caress Harry's breast, his thumb catching on a still-firm nipple. Harry sighed and unconsciously pushed up into the touch, and Severus couldn't help but shuffle close enough to lick and suck at Harry's luscious chest. Harry moaned and wriggled under Severus, still not completely back from whatever orgasm-propelled journey he'd taken, but he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as Severus, judging by the quickly stiffening cock Severus could feel against his stomach.

Severus felt the alpha in him rear up again as he imagined Harry's breasts filled with milk to feed their children. Suddenly the bond flared into life and demanded Snape act on his instincts. He wavered for a moment, then gave in, rearing back and flipping Harry onto his stomach.

"Wha…?" Harry mumbled into the pillow, before Severus drove his cock back into Harry's bruised arse in one hard thrust.

Severus could hear Harry yelp with the discomfort of the abrupt penetration, but couldn't help himself, he humped frantically into Harry's tight young body, driven by an instinct he didn't fully understand, then, as Harry's body started to relax and accept him, and Harry's cries had turned into wails of pleasure, Severus realised – the bonding bite. He and Harry had managed to bond without a bite, but a bite would seal things irrevocably in the eyes of the Ministry. With a bite no one would be able to take Harry away. Severus's shoved Harry's legs further apart and pressed him down into the mattress. Pinned, Harry could only lie there, accepting what was being done. Severus slid his hands under Harry and gripped both breasts, and then just as he came, he bit down hard at the juncture of neck and shoulder.

This time the bond almost knocked Severus unconscious, but he managed to hang on, slumping to the side, his cock popping free of Harry's body with an embarrassing squelch.

Severus looked over in concern at Harry. One green eye glared up from where Harry's face was pressed into the pillow.

"We are not doing that again until you put at least two jars of healing cream up my bum." Harry said.

The worry that he'd irreparably damaged his relationship with Harry dissolved, and Severus burst out laughing. "Yes, sorry. I wasn't expecting the bonding instinct to take over quite so strongly. Are you all right?"

"Apart from feeling like there are doxies nesting in my arse yes, I'm fine." Harry said, shifting slightly and wincing. "I'm not sure if I can move yet though."

"Did you… uh… finish?" Severus asked, not sure if the bond needed both parties of come during the bite.

Harry's one visible eye rolled. "Yes, twice. Although, if we're counting today as a whole, I've lost count."

Severus rolled to the side of the bed and sat up. It took a moment for his shaky legs to hold him up – he felt like he'd been on the receiving end of a very pleasurable version of the Cruciatus Curse. He wobbled over to where his wand had rolled and muttered several summoning spells, then had to duck as various potions flew past, far too quickly for his muddled senses to react to. Belatedly, he remembered the power-sharing aspect of bonding. It seemed Harry was, as suspected, an extremely powerful omega.

Fortunately, Severus always used unbreakable containers, and he collected them up, dropping them on the bed. He held up one pink jar as Harry rolled over with a groan. "This is for your bottom only – it will soothe and heal any damage, without returning you to your virginal state." Snape took a moment to enjoy the sight of a naked and thoroughly debauched Harry blushing from forehead to nipple. He held up a silvered tube. "This is for the bond bite on your neck. It will heal the bite, but will leave an unmistakeable scar. This salve also has a slight tattooing effect – it will gild the bite to make it more noticeable."

"So people know I'm yours." Harry said.

"So people won't bother you. They'll see that and know you are under the protection of a powerful and loving alpha who will rip the arms off anyone who dares try to touch his omega."

Harry gulped and his cock twitched. "Okay."

Severus held up the last bottle. "Pepper Up Potion. I think we both need it if either of us are going to be able to make it as far as the shower." Severus peeled a sticky section of sheet from Harry's thigh. "Something we both definitely need."

~

Severus was freshly showered and humming to himself in the kitchen when he heard the thumping coming from the front door. He sighed, realising that Lucius had probably managed to use his name to get someone from the Ministry to assess Harry much sooner than expected. Still, he was damned if he was going to offer hospitality. He wandered out of the kitchen, carrying a cheese and pickle sandwich, dressed in just a comfortable pair of pyjama bottoms and an old tee shirt.

The banging at the door intensified. "By order of the Ministry for Magic, I demand you open this door and submit the Omega Harry Evans for assessment!" Severus heard, muffled by the door. He couldn't help grinning as he threw the door open and saw Lucius and a short alpha with a clipboard.

"Professor Snape, I am Auditor Beeswax. Mr Malfoy has invoked _omega signa_ , and you are hereby commanded to hand over the unbonded omega Harry Evans until such time that the Matchmaker can assess the situation."

Severus took a bite of his sandwich to hide the grin. He was going to enjoy this.

"What's going on?" Harry wandered out of the bathroom, wearing only a towel. The three alphas in the room were hit with the scent of a well-fucked and thoroughly bonded omega.

"Oh." Auditor Beeswax said. "I do apologise. There seems to have been a mistake."

Severus took another bite of his sandwich, revelling in the moment. 

"Well played, Snape." Lucius said. "A bonding potion?"

Snape swallowed his mouthful of sandwich. "No need – the bond took almost before I got into him. He's incredibly powerful, you know."

"Oi!" Harry yelped, snatching the remains of the sandwich out of Severus's hand. "No kissing and telling." Then he turned to make sure the bond bite, now healed and lined in silver, was displayed pointedly at Lucius. "Oh God, I'm starving, I could eat a scabby horse right now." Harry said, before messily devouring Severus's sandwich.

Auditor Beeswax chuckled. "Well, I can see and smell that you're thoroughly bonded. I can register this with the Ministry now if you'd like – save you the trouble, since I can see you've got your hands full?"

"That would be most helpful, thank you Auditor Beeswax." Snape said. "Would you care for some tea?"

"Ah, no. Thank you, but I'd better get back to the Ministry." Beeswax said. "In fact, I think Mr Malfoy and I were going to see about applying for a new candidate for the younger Mr Malfoy. Isn't that right?"

Lucius nodded. "Yes, of course. A pureblood omega, of course. Only the best for Draco." He spared a momentary glare for Harry, then spun and strode down the stairs, Beeswax offered a nod then scurried along behind him.

Snape closed the door and gave into the urge to laugh. Harry giggled around his mouthful of cheese and pickle.

"You don't seem worried that you've made a pureblood enemy?" Harry said.

Severus shook his head. "Malfoy is no more my enemy than he was before. I've defeated him, and I've done it in a way that both offends him and impresses him. A few weeks to calm down and I'm sure we'll be back on cordial terms."

"Urgh." Harry said. "Purebloods make my head hurt." He popped the last of the sandwich into his mouth.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Still hungry? "

Harry grinned and pretended to ponder it, and Severus felt his heart flutter in an unexpectedly pleasant way. Then Harry shook his head and dropped his towel.

"I could eat, but I've been reading about this 'fellatio' thing…"


	2. Birthday Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude with our boys.

Harry considered that if anyone had told him that he'd spend his summer being sexed up by a university professor, he would have thought they were mad. But here he was, licking the last residue of his first ever blow job out of the corners of his mouth, and sprawling on the living room sofa in a tangle of limbs with Severus. The blow job had made Severus moan like crazy, and Harry had never felt so powerful and in control. Then Severus had come, and it had tasted so good. But also familiar.

"Have you been putting your... stuff in my food?" Harry asked, not raising his head from Severus's chest.

There was a pause. "No."

Harry was fairly sure that pause meant 'no' wasn't a complete lie or the complete truth. "Has Dobby been putting your stuff in my food?"

Another pause, and Severus cleared his throat. "It's possible."

Harry started giggling. "I bet that's why my boobs are so big. One of those pamphlets said I should always swallow. They're probably going to get even bigger now I'm getting it from the source." Harry looked up and saw a faint line of blush across Severus's cheekbones. "You like them, don't you?" He sat up, straddling Severus's waist and cupped his breasts, and jiggled them a bit.

Severus groaned. "You are a dirty little tease, and there is no way I'm getting anything up any time soon. Put a shirt on and stop torturing me."

Harry laughed and laid a sloppy kiss on the side of Severus's mouth. "They like the fresh air. I think I'm going to go topless more often. "

Severus's answer, which was probably going to be rude, judging by the gleam in his eye, was interrupted by a tap-tap-tap at the window.

Harry slithered off Severus's lap with a growl. "Bloody owls."

Severus made grumbling noises as he got off the sofa and made his way over to the window. Harry sprawled back into the warm patch made by Severus's body heat and admired Severus's bum in thin pyjama bottoms. There was a rustle of papers.

"It's all your paperwork," Severus said. "The Ministry have logged our bond, and we're all official now."

"Good," Harry said, stretching out. He supposed he really should put some clothes on. He was hungry, and he didn't fancy summoning Dobby while he was completely naked.

The papers rustled some more as Harry contemplated getting up. "Harry," Severus said, a strange tone in his voice. "Is it your birthday today?"

"Um." Harry hadn't really been thinking about it. "Maybe, what's the date?"

"The thirty first of July." Severus turned around and stared at Harry.

"Then yes. I'm sixteen today. Cracking gift, by the way."

Severus's face scrunched up. "I didn't give you anything."

Delighted to have confused Severus, Harry sat up and smirked, then stretched in what he hoped was a sexy way. "Oh, you gave me something all right."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Now that we're bonded, we can go out more often – you won't have people leering at you all the time. Would you like to go out? We could go for a meal, or... whatever young people do to celebrate birthdays."

Harry shrugged; his birthday had never meant much to him. It had never been celebrated by his relatives, and as his birthday was during the summer holidays, and all his friends went home, he'd never had a celebration at school either. "I'd rather stay here. I am hungry though. Loads of food would be great."

"You have very low expectations." Severus walked back over to the sofa, sat down, and pulled Harry onto his lap. "When Draco turned sixteen, he got a new limited edition Nimbus broomstick, a 500 year old enchanted chronograph, and two house elves."

Harry couldn't give a crap about Draco, so he made a rude noise.

"Draco is an over privileged pureblood with a huge entitlement complex, but he's not all bad." Severus said. "He is fairly intelligent, and as a beta, he would be a suitable friend for you, now that he knows you're off limits."

Harry glared up at Severus. "He tried to put his hand up my shirt."

"And he learned better. A painful lesson, I'm sure, but one I am quite certain he understood." Severus wrapped his arms tighter around Harry. "I saw how you smiled at him when he arrived. You miss having people your own age around, don't you?"

Harry shrugged. It was true – he did miss having people around. Talking to Hermione on the phone was nice, but he had to admit he did feel a little lonely sometimes. "He's a prat."

"I do know a few other families with beta sons and daughters, I could introduce you to them, if you'd like." Severus was stroking down Harry's back, and it felt comforting and sexy, and suddenly Harry felt like crying. Everything had changed so much, and even though it was for the better – probably – he wasn't ready to leave his old life behind.

"Can Hermione come to visit?" Harry asked, in a small voice.

"Only if she doesn't shriek in my ear like she did on the phone." Harry could hear the smile in Severus's voice.

Harry kissed Severus firmly on the mouth and bounced to his feet. "I'll call her and invite her. After food." He looked down. "And clothes." 

Severus made a shooing motion. "Yes, please get dressed. And ask Dobby to order out for a birthday dinner. I've got papers to read."

Harry saw the pile of parchment that had come with the owl. It seemed like a lot of paper for one not-really-a-Muggleborn, not-really-a-boy, and he was glad Severus was volunteering to read it. "Do you think there's anything about my parents in there?"

"About your mother, certainly. Your father may require some more research."

Harry reached out to pick up some of the papers, then his stomach growled. He pulled his hand back, "Clothes, food, then research." And just because he could, he leered at Severus, "then bed."


	3. History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus's past comes crashing into the scene.

Severus watched, with no small amount of wonder, as Harry wandered out of the sitting room, stark naked. The nervous virgin he'd met at the omega facility was gone, wiped away without a trace. Harry was obviously one of those people who, once they'd made a decision, didn't look back. Severus was reminded of a saying a vaguely remembered Muggle great uncle had used: 'Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!' It seemed an appropriate motto for Harry.

It was also a rather Griffindor personality trait, so it probably came from James Potter. That reminded him that he had research to do. Severus turned back to the pile of papers the Ministry owl had delivered. There was more than he'd been expecting, so he tapped a chronological sort charm and started reading.

The first sheet was a copy of Lily Evans's school certificates – she'd done adequately in her OWLs and NEWTs, not an easy task considering that she'd been at the Dumbledore School. Next was a letter of recommendation from the Headmaster of the school, stating that Lily was a 'capable and sensible Muggleborn witch, well suited to employment at the Ministry'. As this was attached to an application form for a position as a junior clerk, and had been stamped with an employee number, Severus concluded that she must have grown into a very impressive young woman – the Ministry did not employ many Muggleborns.

Dobby appeared at Severus's elbow with a cup of tea and a pile of sandwiches. "Congratulations, Master Severus," he said formally, and bowed. "May your younglings serve with honour."

"Um." Severus wasn't sure how to respond. "Thank you?"

Dobby nodded. "Will Mr Malfoy be returning today?" A note of worry crept into his voice.

"No, Dobby," Severus said. "Not for a while." Severus could see a line of tension in Dobby's forehead smooth out. They'd never spoken about Dobby's life as a Malfoy house elf, but Severus got the impression that it had not been a happy time. Technically, Dobby still belonged to Lucius, and Severus could tell that Dobby feared a day he might have to go back. Dobby always made himself scarce when the Malfoys were around, and Severus had subtly hinted to Lucius that Dobby had been used as potion ingredients.

Dobby popped out of sight, and Severus turned back to his papers, he flicked through a couple of employment performance reviews, stopping at the last one, which was signed by a name he recognised – Jasper Mincewight. Severus laid down the papers and picked up his tea. He sipped and closed his eyes, trying to remember. 

Jasper Mincewight was an Auror, Severus recalled. Auror Mincewight had interviewed him once, during the Riddle Uprising. Severus's contact at the Ministry had been caught in an Incendio storm aimed at a Muggleborn family, and the Aurors had investigated to make sure that Severus's contact had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time instead of anything more sinister. They'd met in a Little Chef café somewhere in South Yorkshire, just off the M1. It had been a fluorescent lit corner of Hell, filled with exhausted travellers and their whiny brats. Severus had been hungry, and had grimly chewed his way through overcooked sausage and eggs while Auror Mincewight asked pointed questions and tried to slip Veritaserum into Severus's tea. 

Mincewight hadn't been bad, as Aurors went. No obvious prejudice against Severus's half-blood status, and they'd parted on wary, but mostly cordial terms. His report must have been favourable, as a new Ministry contact had shown up a few days later, and Severus had been sent back in to get information on Riddle's movements.

Severus nibbled on a sandwich. So Lily had been clerking in the Auror Division. And James Potter had been an Auror. It was a big department, but Severus was sure Potter would have made it his business to know all the pretty girls within range. He'd certainly shagged his way through half the female students at Hogwarts.

Severus snorted, and flipped over another sheet of paper. This showed a request for maternity leave, made… Severus checked the date… not long after James Potter had got between Bellatrix Lestrange and a bus full of Muggles. The bus had been saved and the Muggles obliviated, but the damage had ripped an eight foot crater in the road and had taken Bellatrix's head off. All that was left of James Potter after Bellatrix's death curse hit him had been splintered bone, blood and a pink froth of magically chewed meat.

Severus shuffled between papers, wondering if Potter had known he was going to be a father. Lily would have been around four months along when Potter died, plenty of time to have realised she was pregnant and got in touch, but there was nothing in the papers to hint at any relationship to the Potter family.

Next was Harry's birth certificate. Severus couldn't believe Harry had forgotten about his own birthday. He got the feeling that birthdays weren't much to cherish in Harry's family. Severus tried to remember if Lily's sister had been the sort to be cruel to a child, but all that came to mind was a shrewish demeanour and a figure that seemed to be mostly made of elbows. The birth certificate was from a Muggle Registry Office, and it said that Lily had given birth in a Muggle hospital. Unusual, but not unknown for a Muggleborn. Lily was young and healthy, and it was unlikely she'd needed any magical help to give birth, and she wouldn't have had to worry about being shunted off into a side ward to keep her separate from any purebloods giving birth. 

There were no hospital records for Harry at all in the papers. No vaccinations, no assessments, nothing. Severus scowled at the papers – the next one was a brief note about Lily returning to work following her maternity leave. That was odd, even Muggleborns who had returned to the Muggle world had their children checked out by a Mediwitch and vaccinated for magical diseases, just in case.

Harry burst back into the room, a mug of tea in one hand and a large slice of cake in the other. "Found anything interesting?"

Severus dropped the papers in his lap. "Your mother was intelligent and hardworking, she was hired out of school to work as a clerk at the Ministry, and after a year moved over to clerking at the Auror Division. She'd been working there about a year when she took maternity leave. You were born in Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, and as far as I can tell, you were not given any vaccinations against magical maladies, which we really need to do something about."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, I got a cracking dose of the Gnome Pox a couple of years ago. I thought I was going to die. The school got into trouble because they were supposed to vaccinate all the kids in first year, but they hadn't bothered, so most of the school got sick. After that, some official with a stick up his arse came around and made us all drink the worst potion I've ever tasted. Anyone who puked it up had to drink it again. He spelled it right out of the puke and poured it back into their cup." Harry shuddered. "I'm so glad I have a cast iron stomach."

"Delightful," Severus said, feeling his face twist in disgust. "Did it taste like dragonscale or rue?"

Harry shrugged. "I have no idea what either of those taste like, it tasted like all the bad things in the universe took a crap into a potion bottle."

Severus rubbed his head, Harry's education had clearly been woefully inadequate. "We should probably get you an appointment to see a Mediwitch or wizard anyway."

Harry made a face. "That always seems to involve things going up my bum. And although I quite liked what you put up my bum this morning, I'm not too keen on any old witch or wizard faffing about up there."

Severus felt a flush of heat at the mention of their morning activities. Although he was still a little fatigued from the vigorous exercise, his cock had seemingly recovered, and was showing interest in a repeat performance. Severus pushed the papers off his lap and slouched down a little so that Harry could see the growing bulge between his legs. "Harry, come here." His voice came out low and he knew he was radiating desire.

Harry went pink. "But I just got dressed!"

"Now." Severus said, and felt a fierce possessive joy when Harry's pupils dilated and he scrambled over to straddle Severus's lap. "I'm going to have you again. Slowly." Severus reached up and roughly squeezed Harry's breasts. "Right here on this sofa. And you're going to lie back and take it like a good obedient little Omega."

"Okay," Harry gasped, already trying to wriggle out of his jeans. Severus picked up his wand and banished the buttons from Harry's shirt, exposing a pretty blue bra, with Harry's nipples poking hard against the cotton. Severus didn't think he'd ever be able to get enough of Harry's breasts, he whispered a spell to unhook the back and slid his hands up under the fabric to rub and pinch at them.

"Ow, you're so rough." Harry said, finally giving up on the jeans and using his own magic to banish them and his underwear away. "But don't stop." He added, and Severus grinned, pushing the material to the side and sucking hard on Harry's left nipple while wordlessly summoning the lubricant from the bedroom.

Harry's arse felt tight and virginal again, and he squeaked as Severus forced two fingers inside. 

"Did you use the pink healing cream?" Severus asked.

"Yes," Harry groaned, shifting around, trying to find a way to accommodate Severus's fingers.

"You're very tight." Severus teased around the rim of Harry's hole with his thumb, and tried to mentally calculate how long he could hold out before he had to jam his cock in.

"Is that a bad thing?" Harry asked, and Severus felt him trying to relax and open up.

"Not for me." Severus replied, and pushed a third finger in.

"Bastard." Harry whined, and Severus picked him up and laid him down on his back on the sofa, without removing his fingers.

"You wouldn't like me half as much if I was nice." Severus whispered, looming over Harry. "Alphas aren't nice, they're dangerous, and Omegas like that. You want me to do filthy things to you, don't you?" Severus drew his cock out of his clothes and spread lube over it. "Don't you?"

"Urgh, yes! Fine." Harry yelled, "You're a big strong Alpha, and I'm a little fluffy Omega, and would you please put that big fat cock in me right now!"

Severus burst out laughing, but his amusement didn't stop him from pulling his fingers out of Harry's arse, lining up his cock and pushing all the way in to the sound of Harry's yells.

"Ow, ow, ow. Wait a moment. Ow." Harry complained, trying to pull away.

"No." Severus said, holding Harry's hips and driving all the way in again. "That's not what you want or need." He gestured at Harry's cock, which stood up hard and pink between them. "You need a good hard fuck three times a day, so just lie back and relax. We both know you like it."

"Complete and utter bastard." Harry groaned, but Severus felt his arse relax and his thighs spread a little wider in invitation.

"Oh Harry, it is not a good idea to insult the person who has control over just how sore your arse is going to be for the rest of the day." Severus drew back a little and started stroking long and hard into Harry's arse. He got into a rhythm that rubbed against Harry's enlarged Omega prostate pleasure gland and relaxed into a long and thorough fucking. After a few minutes he felt Harry's arse get momentarily tighter, before rippling with orgasm, and the room filled with the clean fresh scent of Omega ejaculate and the sound of Harry's ecstasy. Severus kept his pace, fucking Harry through his orgasm and the aftershocks, then keeping him pinned down until he got hard again. After fifteen minutes, Harry was an incoherent and filthy mess of ejaculate, and his arse was open and welcoming. Severus sped up his thrusts, enjoying Harry's exhausted moans and the obscene squelching and slapping noises generated from each rough shove into Harry's body. He finally came with a roar, filling Harry's arse with even more mess.

Severus caught his breath, pulled out carefully, and slid off the sofa onto the floor. He looked over at Harry who was lying with his legs open and come dripping from everywhere, soaking the edges of his shirt and the remains of the pretty blue bra – a lot like the very best kind of Omega porn.

"Does that phone of yours have a camera? I feel like we should have some kind of record of a fuck that good."

Harry's response was a slurred noise that could have been anything from "Fuck off and die" to "Do it again."

Severus laughed, and glanced down at the papers strewn messily about the floor. He stopped laughing as he saw part of an address peeking out from under Harry's birth certificate. That address… suddenly feeling cold, he pulled the paper into view. It was the Auror report into Lily's death. She'd been killed in a house she shared with several friends, all of them Muggleborn. They'd been a target for Riddle's Death Eaters, and she'd been killed by Riddle himself, just moments before he'd been killed by the Aurors. Severus knew that address well – he'd been the one to pass the word about the attack to the Ministry, who'd sent the Aurors in, just not quite fast enough to save the Muggleborn witches living in the house.

According to the report, Lily Evans had been found dead in the same bedroom Riddle had died in, shielding a baby boy, identified as her son Harold James Evans.

Severus stared at Harry, who had either fallen asleep or passed out. A baby boy, not a baby Omega. Any Auror worth his robes would have discovered that Harry was an Omega if they'd done a proper record of the scene. The death of Tom Riddle should have been so thoroughly checked and double checked that Harry would have been identified, registered and placed in a good foster home, not cast off to live with Muggle relatives and sent to the Dumbledore School.

What the Hell?


	4. Wizards and Wands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Harry meets a wand.

Harry was trying to contain his excitement, but from the vague air of fond exasperation he could sense from Severus, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"It's just Diagon Alley, not Disney World," Severus said, picking up the floo powder. "Crowded shops, screaming children, surly shop assistants, you’ll be disappointed."

Harry just managed to stop himself hopping from one foot to the next in glee. "But I've never been before. I've heard about it, but I've never been anywhere." He was going to get a new wand, a proper one from a proper wand maker, and then they were meeting Hermione, who was coming to stay for three days, and everything was just perfect.

Harry heard Severus sigh in resignation. "If you're expecting your life to be a constant whirl of international travel now we're bonded, you're mistaken. Apart from the occasional trips to South America and Indonesia for potion ingredients, I rarely leave Edinburgh."

South America? Indonesia? "Can I come with you?" Harry asked.

Severus blinked in surprise. "Well, I'm hardly likely to leave you behind - what if you went into heat?"

Oh, yes. That. Harry wasn't really sure if he was looking forward to that, or if it scared the crap out of him. On one hand, three to five days of smoking hot sex with Severus, on the other hand... Harry's arse was still stinging with what they'd done that morning; he couldn't imagine the state his bum would be in after days of it, not to mention what the knot would do to him.

Severus handed Harry the floo power. "After you."

Harry managed to enunciate clearly enough for the floo to get him to the right place, but as usual, he didn't manage to keep his feet at the other side. He slid across a polished wooden floor to catcalls and laughter. 

A hugely tall ginger bloke who smelled like firewhisky and Beta scooped him up and set him back on his feet. "Hello, lovely, what are you doing out all alone?"

Harry opened his mouth to explain, when the floo whooshed behind him. The laughter at Harry's pratfall cut off abruptly, and the ginger bloke stepped back into the crowd and disappeared. 

"Um." Harry said, confused, as everyone in the bar now seemed to be concentrating very hard on their drinks or engaging in forced conversation with the person next to them. Harry was sure he heard several Notice-Me-Not charms being muttered at various points around the room. He checked Severus, who looked grim and forbidding, and not at all like the laughing man who had woken Harry up by sticking his fingers deep inside Harry's bum.

When they got outside, instead of taking in the sights of Diagon Alley, Harry spun around to face Severus. "What on earth was that?"

Severus grimaced. "During the Riddle Uprising, I was a spy. I rose in the ranks of Riddle's followers and became one of his most trusted Lieutenants. Most of the other high ranking wizards were pureblood and had powerful friends and relatives, so I was an easy target for the media to hold up as evil's right hand. When the war was over and my role as a spy was revealed, a lot of people didn't believe it, and those who did felt embarrassed about what they'd said about me." Severus paused and cupped Harry's face in one warm hand. "I make people uncomfortable, Harry."

Harry didn't like the closed off look in Severus's face. "You don't make me uncomfortable," Harry said, a cheeky grin emerging. "Except when you put that big wand of yours up me, but I reckon that's just because I'm not used to it yet. I bet once you've stretched me out a bit more, you'll be dead comfy."

Diagon Alley rang with the sound of Severus's laughter, and Harry, secure in the knowledge of a job well done, turned and made a beeline for the broom shop he'd just spotted. There was a GrindleGhost 359 in the window, and Harry itched to touch it. Severus's shadow loomed behind him.

"If you know the right levitation charms, you don't need a broom to fly." Severus said, and Harry could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah, but with a broom you don't need to remember charms and incantations and all the rest of it, it's just instinct and whoosh…" Harry swished his arm up into the air and sighed. "We had flying for two terms when Headmaster Pye was in charge. We even started a couple of Quidditch teams once we'd managed to scrounge up enough brooms, then he was replaced and flying was an 'extra' and only the kids whose parents could afford private lessons got to fly." Harry remembered the exhilaration of flying, and the bitter disappointment he'd felt when he'd shown up for practice and there was a note from the new Head that flying was off the curriculum, and brooms were only to be used during pre-approved lessons.

"What position did you play?" Severus asked.

"Seeker," replied Harry. "Small and skinny – perfect build for it, apparently." 

There was a pause, and then Severus said, "Yes, of course you'd be a Seeker." Harry heard a strange tone in Severus's voice and turned around to see, but Severus was already sweeping off down the alley in a dramatic swirl of robes. Harry rolled his eyes, and followed, dodging the sharp beak of a huge white owl sitting on the back of a chair outside the owl shop next door.

Harry caught up with Severus outside a tall wand shop. He could see the wand boxes stacked up against the windows going up three floors. He almost bumped into Severus in his rush to get through the door, then almost fell over at the feel of all the potential magic in the shop. 

"Wow." Harry said, wobbling into the middle of the room.

"You feel them, don't you?" Harry jumped and turned towards the voice. An old man with wide pale eyes stood in the shadows. "All the wands, waiting for just the right wizard. The wand chooses the wizard, you know. Some of these wands have been waiting for just the right person for longer than you've been alive."

Harry looked around. "There's certainly a lot of them."

The old man chuckled. "Yes, there are." Ignoring Severus, the man stepped towards Harry. "Looking for a new wand? Of course, why does anyone else visit Ollivander's? You don't have one of mine, but you're almost grown, so you must have one from somewhere – let me see, it'll give us a starting point."

Harry drew his wand out, and heard Severus sigh and move away to sit on a dusty chair in the corner. "It's not really a proper wand." He held it out the old man, who he now realised must be Ollivander himself. 

Ollivander sucked his breath in. "Hazel, with a… hazel core. My goodness, and this produces spells?" At Harry's nod, he handed it back. "Show me."

_"Expecto Patronum!"_ Harry yelled, flinging good thoughts, will and magic through his wand. The silver stag shot from the end of Harry's wand, much stronger and solid than the last time he'd cast the spell. It pranced a moment, shook its antlers and softly disappeared.

The silence in the shop had a shocked quality, and Harry blushed. Casting the Patronus Charm had changed his life the last time he'd done it, what else could happen?

Ollivander cleared his throat twice and turned to Severus. "What on earth have you brought into my shop?"

"An omega in need of a good wand," was Severus's mild reply.

There was another silence as Severus and Ollivander glared at each other. Severus started to get up. "If you don't think you can manage that, I'm sure there are plenty of wand makers around who would jump at the chance to equip the most powerful omega in a generation…"

Ollivander made a disgusted noise. "No one but me could find a wand for someone who can conjure a full Patronus more or less wandlessly. Sit back down, Severus Snape."

Severus sat and Harry surreptitiously slipped his wand out of sight.

Half an hour later Harry had tried dozens of hazel wands and Ollivander had snatched all of them back out of his hand.

"Not hazel. Too brittle. You need something…" Ollivander wandered off, muttering to himself, and Harry gave a despairing look at Severus, who had borrowed Harry's phone twenty minutes ago, and was now playing Angry Birds and ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Birch!" A wand was thrust at Harry whose fingers barely brushed it before it was yanked away. "Holly!" Another wand lasted a bare moment in his hand. "Better, but we need something unusual…" Ollivander disappeared up a ladder and came back with a dusty box. "11 inch holly with a phoenix core."

"WHAT?" Severus yelled, making Harry and Ollivander jump. "That's not…"

"It's not an ordinary wand, I've only made one other like it, and it went to an extraordinary wizard too." 

Ollivander pressed the wand into Harry's hand, and Harry immediately knew this was the one. There was a warm glow, and it felt like something had just slotted into place with his magic.

"Bugger," said Severus.


	5. Blood Wards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip into Muggle Surrey.

Severus trailed along behind Harry, who was oblivious to Severus's consternation. Severus watched Harry delightedly flicking small illumination charms into the air and mutter about how easy things were with a proper wand. He looked so… innocent and childlike – yet another facet of Harry that Severus had been unprepared for. He glared at the wand, one of the few people in the world who might have an inkling what sort of wizard held that particular type of wand.

Powerful, certainly, and Harry had already demonstrated his impressive natural gifts, but what else?

For a moment Severus considered the horrifying possibility that Voldemort could have been Harry's father, but dismissed it quickly. Riddle had hated Muggleborns, and even if he hadn't known Lily was a Muggleborn, she was a woman, not an omega or one of the frightened beta boys that Riddle had preferred.

And then there was the striking resemblance to James fucking Potter.

"Hermione!" Harry shrieked, and took off at a sprint. 

Shocked, Severus started to pull his wand out, then saw Harry enthusiastically hugging a bushy-haired witch. He squashed down a twinge of jealousy and strode over to the two, who were talking all over each other to the bemusement of a young red haired witch who reminded Severus uncomfortably of Lily Evans. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

Harry pulled back with a grin. "Hermione, this is Severus. Severus, Hermione."

Severus suppressed the flinch at being introduced by his first name. "Miss Granger, a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." He held his hand out and was surprised by the girl's cool firm handshake.

"It's good to meet you too Professor Snape. Harry has told me a lot about you." She blushed and backtracked a little. "I mean, I understand you teach at the University and have a huge library. Um."

Harry snickered, and Hermione, now redder than ever, punched him on the arm.

Severus decided to ignore Harry's omega side throwing double entendres into the conversation. "You enjoy reading? Harry seems particularly resistant to it."

This was apparently the right thing to say, as Hermione brightened up and started digging around in her bag while muttering location spells. "Found it!" She pulled out a school textbook – Advanced Potion-Making. "This is the right one for Potions N.E.W.T, isn't it? Well, for Hogwarts students – our book list said Hannah Scrubber's Big Book of Household Potions, but that's rubbish, half the potions don't work, and the other half burn holes in things."

Bemused, Severus nodded. "It was certainly the approved text when I was at school."

"Thanks," Hermione replied. "Ginny isn't taking the N.E.W.Ts until next year, and her brother didn't get into the Potions class for next year, so I don't have the book list."

The redhead gave a weak smile and make a finger wave. "Hi."

"Oops," Hermione said. "Sorry, this is Ginny Weasley. I'd have been lost without her advice on books and school supplies over the years."

"Weasley – any relation to Arthur Weasley?" Severus asked.

The girl looked a little wide eyed. "You know my dad?"

"We met once or twice during the war. I seem to remember he was quite handy at merging magic with muggle artefacts." In fact, Severus had a clear memory of very drunk evening with a mad ginger bloke juggling Rubix cubes. Arthur had been holding his wand in his mouth and mumbling _coloratum lateribus_ trying to solve them, until he lost control of one of the damned cubes and it flew across the bar into someone's pint. Things had deteriorated from that point on.

"Yes, he works in the Muggle Relations Department at the Ministry. In the Technical Integration Division." Ginny replied

Severus realised he'd run out of small talk. "Well, I'll let you all catch up with each other. Harry, I will meet you and Miss Granger outside Flourish & Blotts at 3pm sharp. Please try to stay out of the more disreputable parts of town - remember that while you have the protection that comes with being a bonded omega, Miss Granger is an under-age Muggleborn witch, and has no such protection from the less savoury characters who lurk in dark corners." He dropped a bag of Galleons into Harry's hand. "Please don't spend it all on sugar."

Harry smiled and brushed his fingers across Severus's wrist, a subtle tease. "3pm."

Severus nodded and backed quickly away before he changed his mind and took Harry back home to bed. He had important things to do - things he couldn't do with Harry on his arm. As he strode out of Diagon Alley, he slipped his robe off and transfigured it into an umbrella, his waistcoat and trews became a charcoal business suit, and with a mutter, he disapparated.

Privet Drive was almost a caricature of Muggle culture. Severus had lived in mixed communities most of his life, he knew that Muggles had rich and diverse cultures, and were capable of stunning architecture, but the depressing bland street with its identical boxy houses was exactly what wizards considered to be 'Muggle Life'. Boring, dull, stupid, lacking any spark of humanity…

Severus had thought worse of Muggles over the years, but he'd got over his childhood traumas and adolescent prejudices. This place though – it was horrible.

Number 4 had no distinguishing features. Nothing to point to the fact that Harry had lived there for ten years. A childhood which should have been happy, but obviously hadn't been. Severus rang the doorbell, and inwardly winced at the tinny electronic tune that burbled in the distance.

A fat boy of sixteen or seventeen opened the door. "What?"

"I'm looking for Petunia Dursley." Snape studied the boy. According to Harry's records, he had a cousin around the same age. There didn't seem to be much of a resemblance.

"Mu-um," the boy yelled, "There's a bloke at the door for you."

Petunia Dursley hadn't changed much. Severus would have recognised that pinched face and bird-like manner anywhere. Obviously he hadn't changed much either, because Petunia was only halfway to the door before she started shrieking.

"Close the door! Oh my God, Dudley, get away from the door!"

Severus neatly stepped though and closed the door behind him before the boy could react. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Petunia. "I suggest you cease your caterwauling, or I shall remove your tongue. I'm here about Harry."

"Harry?" The fat boy – Dudley asked.

"Go to your room, Dudley." Petunia said. "Now!" The last part came out a bit loud and Petunia stuffed her hand in her mouth, as if to protect her tongue.

"I suggest you do as your mother says." Severus said, gesturing to the stairs. "Don't worry, as long as I get my answers, I will be gone quickly, and you can all get on with your boring. Little. Lives." Severus prodded the boy on the arm, and he reluctantly backed up the stairs. He looked about to say something, but Petunia's hissed encouragement got him moving.

Severus turned towards Petunia. "Well?"

Petunia had got some of her colour back once Dudley was out of sight. "There's no Harry here. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bravado is not very clever, Petunia. If I want, I can just rip the information out of your head. Now, why don't we sit down, and you will tell me everything you know about Harry Evans?"

Severus could see the fight draining out of Petunia, and tucked his wand away. She motioned him towards a door leading to a pokey and dated sitting room, and Severus made himself at home on an ugly pink and brown floral chair.

Petunia sat nervously on the edge of a matching sofa. "He's not here, you can check."

"I know. When did the Ministry award custody to you?"

Petunia blinked in surprise. "Custody? There wasn't any custody. One of your lot showed up in the middle of the night and told us Lily had died earlier in the day and we needed to take in the boy. There was never any custody. We had to apply for a Muggle copy of the death certificate to get the Child Benefit from the DWP, but that was it."

"You were never contacted by the Ministry?" Severus asked.

Petunia shook her head. "No, not until we got that letter saying he was magical and had to go to a special school. And about bloody time, it was - ten years! Ten years we looked after him. It was only supposed to be for a few weeks!"

Severus leaned forward. "Tell me about the person who gave him to you."

"A madman, all covered in blood. He burst the door right open and started shouting about blood wards, and almost threw Harry at me. He kept saying 'Keep him safe until it's safe. I'll come back when it's safe. Hide him away.' So we kept him safe, and then we got the letter, and off he went, and now it's nothing to do with us." Petunia's voice had been getting steadily shriller as she talked.

"What did the madman look like?" Severus slipped his wand back into his hand and bounced it on his knee as a warning.

"Like one of those hairy biker men. All beard and leather and mad eyes. Scared the life out of me." Petunia wrung her hands together. "And I don't know how he carried a baby on that motorbike."

Severus leaned back and smiled. Sirius Black. It had to be. James Potter's best friend. Best known for his love of Muggle motorbikes, being a disgrace to his pureblood family, and, for the last ten years, howling at the walls in St Mungos. Also known to be a former auror, a former hit wizard, a possible unspeakable, and a tricky son of a bitch. 

Severus got up and started to leave. "One last question, Petunia. Who is Harry's father?"

Petunia blinked in surprise. "I don't know. One of your lot, I expect. Lily never said, and I never asked. I thought it might be the madman."

"Thank you for your help, Petunia. _Obliviate!"_

Severus was about to open the front door when he heard a noise behind him. He spun, wand out, to find Dudley.

"Is Harry okay?" 

Severus lowered his wand. "More or less, no thanks to your family."

The boy's shoulders slumped in relief. "It's just… one day he wasn't here anymore, and they wouldn't tell me where he was, or talk about him at all. We didn't get on, Harry was… I wasn't… I didn't… it's just that he was sort of like my brother, and then he was gone, and they didn't care. I thought they might have killed him."

"No, they just sent him to school." Severus knew he should wipe the boy's memory, but slipped out of the door and walked off instead.

So, some questions answered, more questions raised. Harry had bypassed the usual channels when a magical child was orphaned, how could Black have managed that? Severus slipped behind a tree and disappeared, the crack of disapparation echoing down the dreary Muggle street.


	6. Ice Cream and TMI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Hermione and too much information. And gingers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so. It's been a while, and I should probably explain why. Two reasons - number one is that I don't have much time to write - I have a demanding job, particularly in the first and last quarters of the financial year. Number two is... embarrassing. I have always thought that fanfiction writers who don't reply to the comments people leave are rude ungrateful shits. But that was before I wrote a story that got hundreds of comments. I read all of them. I treasure them. Yes, even the stupid ones. But I have limited time at my computer, and I didn't want to upload any more story until I had got caught up with replying to the comments. My sister, who is a professional writer, gave me a metaphorical slap to the head.
> 
> "All those folk who've left a comment, which do you think they want more - a thank you or another chapter?"
> 
> Hence the embarrassment. So! Two chapters as an apology. They're not very long, and there is graphic sexual activity. I hope you're not disappointed ;)

Harry pondered the ridiculously elaborate ice cream sundae in from of him, and decided he wasn't going to be annoyed by the way Hermione kept looking sideways at his chest. After all, for the first few days, he'd spent a lot of time looking down his shirt too. The leering ginger bloke from the pub, who was introduced as Ginny's brother George, well, he was definitely trying to earn himself some kind of really painful hex.

Harry briefly mourned the fact that he hadn't taken the opportunity to find one or two really vicious spells while in arm's length of Severus's library. He was sure there would have been some good ones.

"So, my lovely," George said, "your Alpha left you with two baby witches as chaperones, I suppose he doesn't mind if you get up to mischief?"

"George, I swear to Merlin, I am going to tell Mum what you've been up to." Ginny said, glaring across the table. George's wince made it clear she'd given him a kick under the table too. "Harry is not some tart you can just pick up for an afternoon of debauchery!" Harry started to smile at Ginny, but unfortunately she kept talking. "And even if he was, what do you think would happen to you if you snaffled Severus Snape's crumpet? He'd pull your eyes out through your arsehole, and your balls out through your mouth, you twunt."

George just grinned. "It's just a bit of harmless flirting, isn't it Harry?"

"Err," Harry said.

"See, he likes it." George said, right before Harry flicked him out of his chair and sent him sliding across eight feet of cobbles.

"…ow…"

Hermione and Ginny burst into laughter.

"Oops, new wand." Harry said with an insincerely apologetic smile, "I'm still getting the hang of it."

The laughter got louder. Hermione grabbed Harry's hand. "Oh God, shhhh, I'll pee myself."

Ginny managed to get her laughter under control. "That was brilliant, Harry. Look, I'd better get him home. It was nice to meet you. Hermione – you'll be able to floo me while you're at Harry's, give me a shout when you're on your way back and we'll meet up for lunch. I'll do my best to leave the most annoying brothers behind." She bounced off, still giggling, towards George's crumpled form.

Harry was surprised by Hermione's wistful sigh. "She's got six brothers, and they're all gingers."

Harry stared at Hermione in shock. "You like gingers?"

Hermione stared back. "Who doesn't?"

"Ew." Harry said, and stuffed a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. It occurred to him that he and Hermione had a lot of things they'd never been able to talk about at the school to catch up on.

The same thought had obviously crossed Hermione's mind. "So, Professor Snape seems very… tall, and um, dark. Is that something you like? Did you even have a preference before, you know?"

Harry shrugged. "I never thought about it. I couldn't at the school, and apart from one other Alpha who was a huge knob, I'd never met an Alpha before Severus." Harry paused to spoon in more ice cream. "He did make a huge impact though. The moment I met him, I wanted to take off my clothes, I just didn't understand why." Harry felt his nipples getting hard at the memory, and blushed.

Hermione looked a bit queasy. "This is weird. It was easier by e-mail."

"New subject?" Harry suggested, curling his shoulders forward and hoping the hard nipples could be blamed on the cold ice cream.

"Yes, new subject. Um. New wand – a real wand. How does it feel?" Hermione asked.

Harry grinned. "It feels amazing. I don't even need to try – I just have to think a spell at it and whoosh, spell done."

Hermione blinked. "Wordless magic? You can cast spells without saying the words?"

Harry shrugged, "Not exactly, I say them in my head, and push the words at the wand."

"That is wordless magic you idiot." Hermione said.

"Cool." Harry said and scraped the last of his ice cream out of the dish. Hermione's face crumpled a little, and Harry put down his spoon in alarm. "What?"

"All this time I thought that Muggleborns and purebloods had the same magical potential, and you're not even clever and you can do wordless magic." Hermione wailed. "The purebloods I know can't do that, but maybe they're just lazy!"

Harry grabbed Hermione's hand, the sting of being called 'not clever' drowned out by the need to stop Hermione's face from scrunching up even further. "I'm special," Harry blurted. He winced at his clumsiness. "The man in the wand shop said so. I'm apparently the most powerful Omega in a generation."

"So purebloods can't do wordless magic?" Hermione asked.

"Well, some of them, maybe, if they work hard. I don't know, you're the smart one. Maybe everyone else just needs to practice?" Harry shrugged and checked his watch. Another hour until they had to meet Severus.

They sat in silence for a moment. "New subject." Hermione said.

Harry swirled the milky residue from his ice cream across the table with a fingertip. "Severus is trying to find out about my parents. He already found out a lot about my Mum. She worked for the Ministry in the Auror department."

"That's nice of him." Hermione said. "Has he found out anything about your Dad?"

"Not yet." Harry absent-mindedly flicked a beetle away from his milky artwork. "He might have been an Auror."

Hermione grinned, "Or a criminal. A dashing jewel thief, who stole your mother's heart before disappearing into the night?"

Harry made a face. "Severus said my Mum was kind and sensible, that's not the sort of person who would go frolicking with a criminal."

"Did he know her well?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "As children, yes, I think so. From what Severus has said, she was his best friend until they went to different schools."

"That's nice," Hermione said, then made a face. "I have to ask – he's definitely not your Dad, right?"

"Ew! No! For fuck's sake, Herms, why would you say that?" Harry felt sick.

"Well… friends with your Mum – he's got dark hair, you've got dark hair…"

"Stop!" Harry shouted, a ripple of magic bursting out of him strongly enough to knock the ice cream-seeking beetle right off the table and blow Hermione's hair back.

"Sorry, sorry." Hermione said, wide eyed. "There's loads of dark haired wizards, I was just thinking out loud."

Harry crossed his arms and glared. "Well don't."

They sat in silence for a bit longer.

Harry sighed. "Show me this bookshop you like so much. We have to meet Severus there anyway, and I want to buy a book with loads of way to get rid of pervy gingers."


	7. Thank Fuck for Silencing Charms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not the plot you were looking for...

Severus found Harry and his friend leaning against the wall outside Flourish & Blotts, studying a moderately dark book of repelling and attracting spells. Severus felt cheered that Harry's bookish friend was encouraging him to study until he got within earshot and discovered they were giggling over how best to use the _Dolor Trahente_ hex to relieve a wizard of his testicles.

"Have I offended you in some way?" Severus said, reaching out and snapping the book from Harry's hands. He ignored Miss Ganger's squeak of surprise and flicked through the book. It was a bit simplistic, but a good book for someone as woefully under-educated as Harry.

"It's not for you." Harry tugged on the book, and when Severus didn't immediately let go, Harry stood on his tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "It's for gingers."

The giggling started up again, and Severus rolled his eyes. "Do I even want to ask?"

"Ginny's brother is a flirt, and I may have accidentally tossed him down Diagon Alley. Just a little bit." Harry seemed quite smug about it, and Severus managed to keep the boiling rage he felt at someone else flirting with his Omega hidden behind a stony silence. Harry chattered on obliviously. "I kept thinking about all those books you have, probably chock full of spells for getting rid of people, and all I know is how to flick vermin, and then whoosh – one super-powered vermin flicking spell."

"I think he bounced," Miss Granger said, "it was hilarious."

Severus got his anger under control, and nodded. "I'm glad you felt able to protect yourself against unwanted attentions." He handed the book back to Harry. "And that you found a suitable book to assist you should you find yourself in the same situation again." Severus was aware he was probably acting more like a teacher than a lover, but now that the anger had cooled down, he was battling the need to take Harry home, chain him to the bed and ensure than no one else could ever look at Harry again. 

Severus savoured the mental image of Harry with his ankles tied to the corners of their bed. His lovely supple legs kept perpetually spread… Severus realised he'd missed one of them saying something. "I beg your pardon?"

"Are we going home, or do you still have shopping to do?" Harry asked.

"Home." Severus said. Surely the girl could amuse herself while he and Harry had a 'discussion' behind three layers of silencing charms.

The floo ride home was uneventful, as was Harry's meandering tour of their home to show Miss Granger where everything was. As expected, the books did distract her, and her delight to be staying in Severus's former reading room, the wall lined with bookcases, gave a very good indication that he and Harry were going to get the privacy Severus really needed.

"Miss Granger, we'll leave you to get settled in. I've booked a table for 6.30pm at a local restaurant; shall we meet in the sitting room at 6?" Severus said, taking Harry's hand and drawing him towards the door.

"Hmm? Yes, that would be lovely, thanks." Hermione said, her hand already reaching for Trumble's Herbal Compendium.

As soon as the door had closed behind them, Severus swept Harry up into his arms and strode off to the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" Harry said, making absolutely no effort to resist.

Severus grinned and let all the lust, frustration and anger he'd been holding onto show on his face. "I'm taking you to the bedroom, and then I'm going to have you. Any objections?"

Harry blushed bright red. "What about Herm…"

"Silencing charms. I've already warded the bedroom." Severus kicked the door shut behind him and tossed Harry on the bed.

"Oh God, you're brilliant." Harry said, hurriedly scrabbling at the button on his trousers. 

"Yes, I am." Severus replied, then banished Harry's clothes with a flick of his wand. Harry grinned, and then yelped as he was spun over onto his front.

"Ouch, watch the boobs, they're new." Harry said, then gasped as Severus conjured up two silk ropes which wound themselves around Harry's ankles and pulled them to the corners of the bed. "Are you… tying me to the bed?" Harry pushed himself up on one elbow and looked over his shoulder.

Severus admired the line of Harry's back, and the soft round curves of his arse. "Yes."

"Okay." Harry sounded a little breathless.

What little patience he had left snapped, and Severus banished his own clothes and summoned the salve from the bedside table. He rubbed the salve up and down his erection and watched Harry blushing and squirming against the duvet. Not willing to wait another moment, he cast a cleaning and relaxing spell on Harry's hole and climbed onto the bed, tossing his wand to the side, but within reach.

Harry's eyes were wide and shocked. "What did you do? I'm… I can't…"

"You can't what? Squeeze yourself shut?" Severus leaned over, his cock nudging between Harry's soft little buttocks. "I just opened you with my magic, and you're going to stay open until I'm done with you." He reached down and positioned himself. "Of course, all I did was relax you. I didn't stretch you, so I imagine you're still going to be quite tight." He snapped his hips forwards, the tip of his cock popping inside Harry's hot tight little arse.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck," Harry gasped, pressing his face into the duvet. "You're too big. Oh God."

Harry's protests tapered off into a wail as Severus shoved in deeper. "You're mine," Severus said, holding Harry still by the hip with his left hand, while he grabbed at Harry's tit with his right. He rolled Harry's nipple between his thumb and fingers and pushed in deeper. "I'm the only person who gets to feel your tits, and the only person who gets to screw your arse." Severus pulled back a little and then drove in hard, the last few inches of his cock sinking into Harry's body. "You're mine."

"Yesssss…" Harry hissed between breathy gulps. "Yours."

Severus stroked in and out of Harry's arse. He was still very tight, but thanks to the salve, Severus felt he was riding the delicious edge between pleasure and discomfort. "This is how Omegas are supposed to take it, Harry. From behind, like a bitch in heat." Severus reached down and tugged at Harry's cock. "But I like taking you on your back too. There's an old saying that only slutty Omegas lie on their backs. That's so they can see which of their lovers is fucking them and they don't scream the wrong name."

Severus wasn't sure if Harry was even listening, he was grunting and squirming and trying desperately to shove himself harder between Severus's cock and hand. Severus stopped stroking Harry's cock and tugged him up onto his knees and elbows. Ignoring Harry's shriek of frustration, Severus started fucking Harry's arse with long deep thrusts. "You don't need a hand on your cock to come, you little tart." Severus reached out to his wand and cancelled the relaxing charm on Harry's arse.

Severus roared as Harry's arse squeezed rhythmically around him. Harry was making the most erotic noises as he came, and Severus felt his own orgasm rip through him as he spilled joyfully into his pretty Omega's perfect little behind.

Severus pulled himself out of Harry and collapsed on the bed beside him. Sex with Harry just seemed to get better and better.

"Why am I always in the wet patch?" Harry grumbled. "You're a right bastard you know – that was really fucking painful. At the start. Not that I wouldn't want to do it again. Some time. Not today though, because ow. Seriously, are you sure that's a normal sized cock, because I think you went up me so far I can taste your stuff."

Severus hadn't got his breath back yet, so he just laughed a little and made a note that a fitness regime might be needed.

"Also, can we take these ropes off?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Severus said, between deep breaths. "I quite like the idea of you being unable to keep your legs together when you're in our bed. We should make that a rule – Harry keeps his thighs spread when he's in Severus's bed."

"Like you need rope for that." Harry muttered.

Severus laughed, and banished the ropes. Then he rolled Harry out of the wet patch and cleaned up the mess. "Spread them then." Severus said.

Harry rolled his eyes and stretched out on his back, his knees pressed stubbornly together. "Make me."

"With pleasure," Severus replied and threw himself, body and magic back into the maelstrom of lust.


	8. Rags to Bitches Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the beetle in chapter 6 was Rita Skeeter.

Harry woke up slowly. It was a bit of a novelty – waking up at the school had involved a screeching alarm and the knowledge that the last person out of bed got a cane across the arse, and recent mornings had involved being woken by abrupt anal penetration. Harry reached across the bed, which was empty and cool to the touch. Harry felt momentarily annoyed that he wasn't going to be treated to the usual vigorous morning sodomy, but after a moment's consideration, was relieved – he'd eaten far too much the evening before, and still felt bloated and out of sorts.

A pearlescent orange potion stood on the bedside table, a note propped against it.

'Drink all of it – S'

Harry sat up and held the potion bottle – in his experience, potions tasted universally foul. His stomach made a sour sound, and Harry sighed, uncapped the bottle and poured the contents down his throat. Surprisingly, the contents were quite nice: citrusy with hints of sweetness and maybe…

Harry bolted for the bathroom, belatedly recalling a potion lesson about medicinal purgatives.

"Wanker." Harry said, throwing himself down on the sofa almost an hour later, scrubbed shiny and clean, inside and out.

Severus just raised an eyebrow and went back to reading through a pile of probably boring papers.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry could feel an epic sulk coming on.

"She went to explore the Old Town. She was going to wait for you, but we weren't sure how long your food coma was going to last," Severus said, not even looking up.

Harry could feel the irritation coming off Severus in waves, which just accelerated his own sulk. "If you didn't want me to eat so much, why would you take me to an all you can eat buffet?"

Severus slammed his papers down on the desk and finally looked up. "I don't know – maybe because I have no idea what sort of food you like, so I took you to a Muggle World Banquet Dining Experience to find out. I needn't have bothered though – it quickly became obvious that you consider anything that can't get out of the way to be food. I'm surprised you didn't try to eat the flatware."

Harry saw red. "You try going your whole life on a diet of fish fingers and instant mash and see how you react to a whole room full of curry." Really, it was unfair to be expected to show moderation after you've just been given full access to every type of food ever.

"And steak, and chicken satay, and fried clams, and garlic mushrooms, and Hong Kong fried rice, and barbecue pulled pork, and duck spring rolls, and Szechuan Beef, and Thai green curry and how many dessert cups did you pass through the chocolate fountain?"

Harry was saved from responding by the sound of the front door flying open and then being slammed. 

"Harry! Professor Snape!" Hermione skidded through the doorway, a newspaper clutched in her hand. "You need to see this." She thrust the newspaper at Severus, who took one look and went pale.

Harry considered holding onto his bad mood and ignoring Severus's stupid face, but it was going from pale to grey, so he hopped off the sofa to have a look. On the front of the Daily Prophet, in garishly bright text was, 'Half Blood Prince Playing Daddy?'

"Oh, fuck." Harry said.

"Mm, yep." Hermione agreed.

Severus looked up, stricken. "Harry, I hadn't seen your mother since I was eleven. I am definitely not your father."

Harry knew he was pulling horrified faces, but couldn't really help it. "I didn't think you were."

"Good." Severus looked back down at the paper. "We may need to speed up the investigation into who your real father is."

"Any ideas?" Hermione asked.

Severus looked conflicted. "Yes, but I had hoped to have more than guesswork before revealing anything."

An official looking owl in Ministry livery appeared at the window, tapping for attention. Hermione opened the window and the owl flew straight to Severus.

Harry sat down. "You guessed who my father is, and you didn't tell me?"

"I… didn't want you to get your hopes up. I might be wrong." Severus unrolled the message, started reading and groaned.

Harry snatched the message out of Severus's hand and turned it over – the words 'possible child of Tom Riddle' jumped into focus. Harry would have thrown up if there had been anything left in his stomach. "I'm the son of T…"

"No! You're not." Severus said, looking up, his eyes filled with fury. "You're the son of James fucking Potter, who was the bane of my life at school, and seems to have produced an omega offspring purely so that he can torment me from the grave!" 

With that, Severus stood up, grabbed the owl and stalked out of the room. There was a moment of silence, then the sound of Severus's study door being slammed.

"Um," Harry said.

"Well, that was intense," Hermione said. "Any chance of a cup of tea?"

Harry sent Hermione off to find the kitchen, or Dobby, or something, and sat down with the newspaper.

>   
>  **Half Blood Prince Playing Daddy?**
> 
> The notorious Severus Snape was spotted yesterday in Diagon Alley, squiring around an attractive young Omega, rumoured to be the child of Professor Snape's Muggleborn childhood sweetheart. Professor Snape has remained resolutely single since his sweetheart's death fifteen years ago, but has been giving off a freshly bonded scent recently. See page 5 for more.

Page five was… worse. As Harry read through it, he started to feel cold and sick. Someone had to have been listening while he and Hermione were having ice cream. Who would want to eavesdrop on two teenagers eating ice cream? And why did the Ministry owl bring a note about being the son of Tom Riddle? That wasn't even in the newspaper. 

The floo started making noises, and the study door flew open, thudding against the wall. Harry jumped up and reached the door just in time to see Severus pull out his wand and point it at the fireplace.

_"Comprimo Cau Gau"_

The floo made a horrible groaning noise and spat soot all over the floor. Harry nervously smiled up at Severus, who appeared to have the Ministry owl under one arm.

"Did you just close that in three languages?" Harry asked.

"Two, but one of them was Welsh." Severus said, heading for the nearest window.

"So… floo not going to be open for a while?" Harry asked.

"No." Severus opened the window and hurled the owl out. "Bugger off back to London, and you'd better be going at full speed or I'll shut your arse up like I did that floo!" Severus spun around and Harry took a careful step back. He'd thought Severus was a bit intimidating before, but this…

Harry belatedly realised he was extremely hard. He saw Severus's gaze flicker downwards, and for a moment thought he was going to get bent over the back of the sofa.

"Go get your friend, we're taking a little trip." Severus said, and stomped back out of the room.

Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged to himself. "Obviously not by floo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter, sorry. The next one will longer, I promise.


	9. Dealing with Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Severus manages not to spit acid into anyone's face.

Severus shut the door to his study behind him and took a deep breath. This was all happening too quickly – he had a timetable for revealing that Harry was a Potter, preferably after he'd impregnated and married him. They hadn't even shared a heat yet.

Severus slumped down in his chair and thought things through. The first order of business would be dealing with the Ministry. Fortunately, Tom Riddle's magical signature and biological samples were on file at the Ministry – it should be fairly easy to prove that Harry wasn't his son. The hard part would be persuading the Ministry to test Harry before removing a potential threat.

The letter was crumpled on the table.

> _Professor Snape_
> 
> _You are hereby ordered to hand over the Omega known as Harry Evans. We have been given to understand that Mr Evans is the possible offspring of Tom Riddle, and as such must be assessed. Please present yourself and Mr Evans at our Westminster offices immediately._
> 
> _Yours etc_
> 
> _Absalom Grimhammar, Inquisitor_

Immediately didn't give them much wriggle room. Even less now that he'd blown up the floo in a temper. Still… there could be a solution, if he was careful. Severus mentally mapped out what he was going to have to do, and got to work.

Harry was in the kitchen, watching Hermione filling a Thermos of tea. Severus took a moment to be grateful she was here, despite the inconvenience of not being able to keep Harry naked and bent over while she was in the flat. "Ah, well done, Miss Granger. Shall we go?"

"Is this a 'we'll be home for supper' trip or a 'bring your luggage trip'?" Hermione asked.

"No idea," Severus replied. He turned to face Harry, sensing a curious blankness from Harry's side of their bond. Harry had his hands in his pockets, his head down and his shoulders curled forwards – a sign of insecurity. "Harry?"

Harry looked up, a question on his face. "James Potter. The first thing you said to me when we met was 'Potter'. You've known this whole time, haven't you?"

Severus tried to stop himself from snarling in frustration, they didn't have time for this. "No, I didn't know. I still don't know. You look like someone I went to school with, that's all. James Potter was six inches taller than you, he had blue eyes, not green, and I like you considerably more than I liked him, which is to say I loathed the very ground he walked on. Now, unless you want Inquisitors breaking down the door, I suggest we leave."

Severus sighed with relief when the two headed for the door. He'd noticed that instant obedience seemed to be a reflex for Harry, although, like a reflex, it didn't persist once he'd had time to run it through his brain. He balked again, halfway down the stairs.

"Was he an Auror?" Harry asked.

Severus grabbed Harry's hand and started towing him down the stairs. "Yes."

"And he's dead."

"Yes." Severus suddenly realised why Harry's side of the bond was so blank, Harry was in shock. "Sorry."

"Hmm." Harry followed along silently while Severus cursed under his breath. 

The pub on the corner had a public floo, Severus tossed a handful of change at the barman and marched Harry over to the fireplace, with Hermione behind, rushing to keep up.

"We're going to the Department of Records. Stay close, and don't talk to anyone." Severus looked at the pair. Hermione, thankfully, was wearing robes. She might pass for a very young clerk or secretary, as long as no one looked closely. Harry… well, there was no disguising that he was an omega – his pre-heat scent made sure of that, as did his boyish face and lovely breasts.

Severus pulled his attention away from Harry's chest, momentarily cursing the fact that he hadn't fucked Harry awake that morning. He needed focus. First things first. "Hall of Records."

Harry's omega status was actually an advantage, Severus realised, as they made their way through the halls. All the attention was on him, and as an Omega would never go somewhere as important as the Hall of Records without 1. a good reason and 2. a chaperone, everyone just smiled at the pretty omega and opened the doors for them. Severus had the thought that spying might have been so much easier with an omega in tow.

"What are we doing here?" Hermione asked. She kept her voice low. "Is it dangerous?"

"It's not exactly safe, but it's better than the alternative." Severus replied, heading down into the criminal sections of the Hall. 

"What's the alternative?"

Severus sighed. "Handing Harry over to people who hex first and ask questions later. It can't have escaped your noticed that Harry is less than a week away from his first heat. I will not be separated from him. Not even if Grindelwald himself commanded it."

"A week!" Harry sounded a bit squeaky. "Seriously?"

Severus stopped in front of the door he'd been looking for and turned around to face Harry and Hermione, they both looked surprised. "You hadn't noticed? Of course you didn't, that bloody school. We'll talk about it later, but right now you have an appointment with a sharp needle." Severus swung the door open and bellowed. "Crouch!"

Bartholomew Crouch, looking sadder and more faded than he had when his son was executed peered around a display case holding several severed body parts in jars.

"Snape. What do you want?"

"I want you to test this omega and certify that he's not Tom Riddle's son." Severus said.

Some life appeared in Crouch's eyes. "Riddle?" he hissed.

"He's not Riddle's son, but I need official Ministry paperwork, and that means you. If you've tested and signed him off, everyone will know it's the truth." Everyone knew that strong emotions ran under Barty Crouch's grey exterior. His only son had been a casualty of the war, and if someone had placed Tom Riddle in front of them, he was sure Crouch would have killed him, even if he'd had to use his teeth to do it.

Crouch walked over and looked into Harry's face. He snorted. "That. Is a Potter. How did you get your hands on a Potter omega?"

"Good karma." Snape replied. "Will you do the test?"

Crouch sucked air through his teeth. "Were you involved in catching my son?"

Severus blinked in surprise. "No. Of course not. Barty junior was a spy for Lord Vol… for Riddle, no one knew about him until the Veritaserum interviews."

Crouch sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'll do your tests. Soul links or blood?"

Severus thought for a moment – soul testing was faster, but blood was more accurate. Time was running out, but accuracy was important. "Blood."

Crouch reached out to Harry. "Come with me."

Severus was enjoying a cup of Hermione's tea and watching smoke rising out of two crucibles and lapping across a sheet of parchment when he heard the thud of approaching Authority.

"Severus Snape! I know you're supposed to be a genius, care to explain why you seemed to misunderstand the word 'immediately'?"

Severus stood up and turned around. The wizard addressing him was a tall muscular Alpha with cold grey eyes and a choleric complexion. "Inquisitor Grimhammar, I presume?"

"Yes, you do presume. Too fucking much, Snape. You'd better have a damned good reason for being here instead of my office."

Severus decided that sticking fairly close to honesty would be the better course, he had a feeling that the Inquisitor was a master at spotting untruths. "I came to get Harry tested. What made you think Harry was Riddle's son?"

Grimhammar glanced at Harry. "Riddle was killed while visiting him, and someone's been hiding him for fifteen years. You're the one that dug up all those old papers - why do you think?"

"Harry's mother was a Muggleborn woman. Riddle would never have touched her."

"According to you?" Grimhammar crossed his arms. "You're not exactly impartial in this case, are you?"

"Snape might not be, but I am," Crouch said, holding up a sheet of parchment. "The omega isn't Riddle's."

Severus and Grimhammar looked down at the parchment – a drop of Harry's blood shining red in one corner, carefully labelled 'Harry Evans' in Crouch's spidery handwriting, a drop of old black blood in the other, the words 'Certified sample TR30456 – Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort' beside it. Swirling under the drops were the words 'No familial match for five generations.' 

Harry squeezed between them. "What does that mean?"

Grimhammar subtly sniffed the air above Harry's head and the ire seemed to drain out of him. "It means that the closest relationship you could have to Riddle would be such distant cousins that you have virtually no common genetic material. You're off the hook, my dear."

Severus gritted his teeth and managed not to punch Grimhammar in the face. His logical mind knew that having Grimhammar captivated by Harry's sweet scent and lithe figure meant them getting The Riddle Problem resolved more quickly, but this close to a heat, all Severus wanted to do was fight and fuck.

Grimhammar took one final deep inhale and stepped back, a sheepish smile on his face. "Crouch, stamp that as certified, and we can let Snape and his omega and their companion go."

Severus had almost forgotten Hermione. He turned around and saw her slip something into her robe. He opened his mouth to protest, and then thought better of it. Making a fuss could cause delays. But whatever she'd stolen had better not be anything they'd miss.

As they were being politely but firmly escorted to the nearest floo, Hermione sidled close and hissed. "We need to talk. Something isn't right."

"Now?" Severus asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Not in front of Harry."

The floo dropped them back in Edinburgh, at the pub they'd left from. Severus pointed at an empty corner booth, and once he made sure Harry and Hermione were going in that direction, he headed to the bar. "Whisky. And two pumpkin juices." The whisky went down smoothly. "And another whisky."

The three sat in silence sipping their drinks.

"So, Harry… Potter." Harry made a face. "I think I like Evans better."

"Good," said Severus into his whisky. "Calling yourself Potter would get you even more publicity than being The Half Blood Prince's Incest Bride."

The youngsters let out a simultaneous, "Ew!" 

Harry drained half his juice and stood up. "Right, where's the little boy's room?" Then a horrified look crossed his face. "Little omega's room? I don't have to use the ladies do I?"

"Omegas generally use the ungendered facilities." Severus pointed it out – the wider door for pregnant Omegas, and the ungendered designation meant that most people assumed it was a Muggle disabled loo.

Harry sighed. "Wonderful, nothing ever gets _less_ complicated, does it?"

As soon as the door shut behind Harry, Hermione rummaged in her robes and pulled out another piece of parchment. At first glance it looked like the blood test, just without the blood. Harry's name was in one corner, Riddle's in the other, 'no match' swirling in the middle.

"Miss Granger, what are you…"

Hermione interrupted him. "Just wait – it's a soul test, I sneaked the special parchment and some of Riddle's essence while you were getting blood out of Harry. Just keep watching."

Severus looked down at the parchment – nothing seemed out of the ordinary, then the 'no' in 'no match' flickered out of sight. The parchment now read 'Harry Potter – Tom Riddle – Match'.

"Fuck." Severus said.

"Exactly. Good thing you chose blood for the certified test," Hermione said, "because that looks like a partial soul match."

The words flickered back to 'No match'.

Severus downed the last of his whisky. "Harry's right, things never get less complicated."


	10. An Omega's Lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phew - year end work mostly done. To celebrate, I wrote this.
> 
> Fair warning, I wrote this mostly drunk on dangerously strong Hebridean beer. Don't trust those bampots on the west coast, they will Fuck Your Shit Up.

Harry lay on the couch in the living room. He could hear Severus casting spells at the floo and periodically breaking off to swear, and Hermione was reading one of the NEWT textbooks she'd bought, and making notes. Harry was… confused. 

Well, really he was bored, horny, angry and scared, but it was going to take some sorting out to decide what went where. Horny was all for Severus, as was most of the anger. Harry had thought they'd have a huge argument once they got back from the Hall of Records, and he'd been gearing up for a really epic strop, and then Severus had dragged him into the study and spent an hour and half doing really filthy things to him. Harry felt his nipples get hard just thinking about it. He was still angry with Severus for keeping really important information from him, but apparently that took a back seat to having a full arse.

Dammit.

Harry looked over at the clock on the mantelpiece. Two hands pointed to the time, 7.30pm, the other pointed to a black rain cloud labelled 'do not disturb'. Harry sighed, and pulled his wand out.

_"Espurna."_

A small blue spark flew out of the top of Harry's wand and fizzled out with a soft 'phut'.

Harry looked over at Hermione, who was still engrossed in her book.

_"Espurna."_

Another spark appeared, and winked out just above Hermione's hair.

"If you set me on fire, I'll show Professor Snape the photos from second year when you got that fungal infection in your eyebrows." Hermione said, not even looking up from her book.

Harry scowled. "You're not going to be able to sneak in all those textbooks you know. You've got far too many. One or two, maybe, but a whole bag full of them? Nope."

Hermione sighed and closed the book. "I'm not going back."

Harry sat up, this feet thudding on the rug. "What? But they'll… redact you." Everyone knew what happened to kids who left Dumbledore Memorial before they reached their wizarding majority at seventeen – the Ministry burned out their magic. And they weren't always careful about it either. There'd been a boy in the year below Harry whose parents had taken him out of school at the end of second year, and the next year his younger brother arrived in first year. For an extra helping of whatever was being served for lunch, he'd tell you all about the drooling mess his brother had become.

Hermione huffed. "I'm not an idiot, I've thought of that – I turn seventeen a few weeks after term starts, Mum and Dad are going to call the school to tell them I have something Muggle – Whooping Cough or something, and I'll be late back. By the time anyone thinks to check, I'll be seventeen and free."

"That's seriously risky," Harry said. "What if you get caught? For the sake of a few weeks? It's not worth it. And what happened to going to university – you can't do that with a handful of OWLs."

"I'm going to Sixth Form College and I'm taking Muggle A-Levels," Hermione said, nervously picking at the edge of her book. "I'm going to keep studying for my NEWTs when I can, but let's face it, however many exams I pass, I'm still going to be Muggleborn. With A-Levels I can get into any University I want as long as I have the grades, and once I'm there – well, a lot of Universities have Magical Studies Departments hidden away, maybe I can pick up extra classes, or transfer once I've got my NEWTs."

"But…" Harry knew he looked stupid, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, but he didn't know what to say. Finally he settled for, "How long have you been planning this?"

Hermione blushed a little and looked away. "Seriously, since the end of term. But, I had the idea last summer when I met a witch who had left Dumbledore Prison the day she turned seventeen, and now she's a mediwitch – she trained as a Muggle nurse, then got accepted into the St Mungo's training program."

Harry felt a cold hard knot forming in his middle. "If I hadn't been an Omega, were you going to tell me? Or were you just not going to show up at the start of term? Maybe send me an owl or an e-mail after your birthday to let me know you were still alive?"

"Harry, no, it's not like that." Hermione put down the book and came and sat next to Harry on the sofa. "I didn't start thinking about it seriously until I knew you wouldn't be going back either."

The knot in Harry's stomach eased a little. "You'd have gone back if I was still there?"

Hermione put her arms around Harry and gave him a squeeze. "Of course, you idiot. I sort of thought we'd do the whole sixth form college thing together, next year. I was going to sneak in A-Level text books instead of magic ones so we could get a head start."

Harry rested his head on Hermione's shoulder. "Thank you. It's just… it's still really risky."

"Harry's quite right, Miss Granger." Severus said from behind them.

Harry turned and felt a bright flash of lust, Severus looked so… dirty. He was stripped to just trousers and a dark coloured shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was wiping his hands on a rag and there were liberal smudges of soot scattered over his arms and the front of his shirt. There was even a smudge on one of his delightfully sharp cheekbones. Harry wanted to clean Severus with his tongue.

Severus smirked, probably reading everything Harry was thinking from his face. "I might have an alternate solution. Are you familiar with the role of an Omega Chaperone?"

Hermione scrunched up her face. "That's a bit… medieval."

Severus's lips quirked upwards. "As is much of the more traditional areas of pureblood society. By engaging an Omega Chaperone, I'll be seen as following the Prince family traditions, Harry will have the company of someone he considers to be a friend and confidante, and you get access to not only my own personal library, but the resources available to me through my position as a professor of Grindelwald University, and my recommendation to the university of your choice should you do well in your NEWTS."

Harry sighed, "A chaperone? Isn't that someone who makes sure I don't cop off with other blokes? Doesn't that make it look like you don't trust me?"

Hermione patted Harry hand. "No. Well, not entirely. A chaperone is there as magical back up to help an omega defend himself against unwanted suitors, to alert his Alpha if he goes into heat unexpectedly, sometimes to tutor younger omegas, help him through the… er… aftermath of a heat, whether he's pregnant or not, and generally help out with things. It used to be seen as a very respectable career for well-bred young witches without fortune. A bit like the role of a governess or companion for Muggle ladies 200 years ago."

Harry made a face. "And you'd want to do that?"

"For the chance to study for my NEWTS with these resources, maybe get into Grindelwald's Theoretical Thaumology degree course?" Hermione grinned, he whole face lighting up with excitement. "Oh, Hell, yes."

Harry slumped back on the sofa, even more confused than before. It sounded great, Hermione staying, them studying together, without the looming threat of wickedly hard canes lining the walls waiting for some kind of infraction. But Harry couldn't help the thought that he wasn't getting much say in his own life. He could see how happy Hermione was though – he couldn't take that from her.

"So the school wouldn't mind releasing her early?" Harry asked.

Severus shrugged. "I shouldn't think so – but I'll send off an owl to make sure. Miss Granger, I suggest you contact your parents to discuss this with them before deciding."

Hermione jumped up and dashed out of the room with her phone, and Harry turned to look at Severus. 'Ignore the sexiness' he thought to himself, fixing a scowl on his face. "There's something going on, isn't there?"

"Yes, I have a half-educated Omega lolling about in my furniture, a broken floo, and…"

"Severus!" Harry interrupted, "Yes, I'm ignorant, but I'm not stupid. There are things going on that I don't know about, and that pisses me off. This is my life, and the last month has been seriously weird, but the last few days make the last month look like another boring Wednesday afternoon in Domestic Magic class. What. The fuck. Is going on?"

Severus sighed and sat down beside Harry. He opened his mouth, and paused. Harry could almost see him flicking through pre-prepared glib answers, so he reached out and pinched Severus hard on the side.

"Ow, do you want to have children?" Severus seemed to be as surprised as Harry at what had come out.

"I… don't know," Harry said. "Do I get a choice?"

Severus made a face, like the answer was being painfully pulled out. "I'm a Potions Master, and in my early career I specialised in Omega fertility. I know how to boost an omega's natural fertility or raise the chances of an omega or alpha birth, as I intended, but I also discovered the other side – how to reduce fertility, or even to delay or prevent a heat, although that can be dangerous."

"You're asking if I want birth control." Harry guessed.

"Yes." Snape nodded.

"You don't want to have kids?" Harry asked. Harry felt a little throb of hurt and loss, another thing to add to the pile of mixed emotions. 

"Of course I want children – if I just wanted to get my leg over, there are easier ways to go about it than apply for an Omega." Snape said, rolling his eyes. "It's just – you're so…" he trailed off.

"What? Young, short, ignorant, weird?" Harry asked.

Snape cupped Harry's chin in a tender gesture that made Harry blush. "You're not much more than a child yourself. A month ago you were a schoolboy, and tomorrow you'll be crying for my knot. That's a big adjustment to make."

Harry climbed into Severus's lap. "Yeah. It is. And you're right, I'm not ready for babies, but isn't that what I'm for?"

Severus smiled. "Maybe to start with, but now… you're here on your own merit."

Harry wrapped himself tight against Severus, breathing in the scent of soot and his Alpha, and tried not to cry. "No one ever wanted me just for me. Well, maybe Hermione wanted to be my friend just for me, but no one else."

"It's too late to brew anything for this heat, but as it's your first, you're unlikely to conceive – the first heat is more of a wakeup call to the reproductive organs, and… well… there can be some trauma after the first time, which can prevent conception, although I am hoping to avoid that."

Harry sat back and back and glared at Severus. "We were having a lovely moment there. All soft warm feels and stuff, and then you have to go talk about bursting my arse with your knot."

Severus laughed and dumped Harry on his back on the sofa. He loomed over him, and grinned, shark-like. "You're going to love it. You'll be begging for it, and wriggling like a slutty little worm on a hook. By the time your heat's over, your arse will be so stretched out, I'll be able to get my whole arm up you."

"Oh, Christ, did I never want to hear that!" Hermione said from the doorway, a look a disgusted horror on her face. "My parents want to meet you. Please don't talk about fisting your barely legal boyfriend in front of them."


	11. Tea and Memory Charms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Severus is fuck-stupid, drinks a lot of tea with Muggles and then enjoys full use of his brain (briefly).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I've made you wait again. Sorry. I had some scary medical issues, which fortunately turned out to be not scary at all and easily fixed. We should all be so lucky! Anyway, my mojo is back (do people still say 'mojo'?) and I will try to produce things without great huge 10 week gaps. I'm motivated, because there is epic fucking on the horizon. I was going to have a Severus/Sirius scene before the boys get their heat on, but my God this story does NOT stick to my carefully crafted chapter outlines!

Recently, Severus considered, yawning and blinking at the early morning sunlight, owls seemed to have developed a knack for arriving at just the wrong moment. Harry was curled up, sleepy and pliant, and giving off cusp-of-heat scent, and all Severus wanted to do was force his morning erection into Harry's tight young body. The owl sitting in the open window staring at him wasn't putting him off much, but the large roll of papers held in its left claw were enough to get Severus moving.

The papers were from the Ministry. It seemed as though Inquisitor Grimhammar had eased through a great deal of paperwork.

> Dear Prof Snape
> 
> Following your Omega's assessment, please find enclosed official confirmation of testing for undesirable bloodlines. You will notice that after you left we ran a rather more comprehensive blood test, which show that Mr Evans is descended from the Peverell line. There are a number of Alpha/Omega producing families descended from this bloodline, and I have included contact information for the Head of each family should you wish to get in touch.

Severus flicked through the papers for the list, sure enough, right at the top was the floo address for Charlus Potter, James Potter's father, and probably Harry's grandfather. Severus sighed and laid the sheet aside. This would save some time, but the news was probably already making its way through the upper layers of Wizarding society. The Peverell line was one of the oldest and most established Alpha/Omega lines in Great Britain, and although most of the offshoot families had faded into a beta middle class obscurity, it was considered a very powerful bloodline.

Tom Riddle had made much about being descended from both the Peverell and Slytherin bloodlines.

"Sev'rus, what time is it?" Harry mumbled, his voice soft with sleep.

"It's early yet." Severus said. "Go back to sleep, you need to rest today."

Harry's arm emerged from under the light summer blanket, and groped across the bedside table. "Why?" Harry asked, as he located his glasses and the arm retreated back under the blankets.

Severus grinned. "Because you're not going to get a lot of sleep once your heat starts."

This time it was Harry's messy head that emerged from the bedding. "Are you sure that it's going to be today? I don't feel any different."

"You will – give it a few hours. You're not going to feel very comfortable today, so do you want to come with me to drop off Hermione at her home and speak with her parents, or would you rather stay here?"

Harry scowled. "I'd rather Hermione stayed here."

Severus laughed. "During your heat? I don't think so. We'd traumatise her. If her parents are amenable to her becoming your chaperone, she'll be back at the end of the week. Trust me, neither she nor you want her to be around while you're frantically shoving anything you can get your hands on up your arse." Severus enjoyed the bright red blush that worked its way up Harry's chest and across his face. Harry never looked prettier than when he was embarrassed. "We should probably let your arse have a rest today too." Severus loosened the tied on his pyjama bottoms and nudged the tip of his cock out into the air. "Bring that mouth over here."

It only took a moment for Harry to scramble out of the bed and latch on. Harry wasn't very good at fellatio, he enjoyed it far too much to pay attention to what he was doing, but there was certain charm about the frantic and greedy way Harry sucked and slobbered around Severus's cock. Severus leaned back against the window frame and enjoyed the sight of Harry on his knees, his eyes half-lidded and drowsy with pleasure, and the muffled moans coming from Harry's full mouth. 

"You love the taste of my cock, don't you, you little tart?" Severus said.

"Mmmm…" Harry moaned a little louder in agreement.

Severus carefully gripped a handful of hair at the back of Harry's head and held him still. "Don't stop sucking." Severus said, and started to thrust into Harry's mouth. Oh God, that was good, Severus thought, as he pushed himself into Harry's throat and felt the quick squeeze of Harry's gag reflex caress the head of his cock. Harry's face was bright red, and his eyes now shocked and wide, as his mouth was ruthlessly fucked. He kept sucking, moaning and occasionally gagging, and the combination of the delightful stimulation and obscene sounds soon had Severus spilling hot and hard down Harry's throat.

Severus pulled back out of Harry's mouth and let him catch his breath. "How is your throat?"

"Fine," Harry scowled, his voice a little rougher than normal. "But you didn't let me taste it – you put it all too far back."

Severus tousled Harry's messy hair and helped him up. "You'll get plenty more chances to drink me, now back to bed with you."

Harry flopped dramatically back onto the bed. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Severus smirked and pointed his wand at the bulge in Harry's pyjamas. " _Omega ecstasim facere._ " Severus had always wanted to perform that particular spell, but wasn't expecting the effect on an omega just a few hours from heat. Harry's back arched, damp spots appeared on the back and front of his pyjamas, and with a strangled wheeze he fainted.

"Shit," Severus said, "DOBBY!"

Dobby popped into sight. "Yes, Mr Sever… oh dear."

"I was in a hurry and performed an ecstasy spell. Will he be all right?" Severus leaned over Harry, and tried not to breathe too deeply, god, he smelled good.

With a snap of Dobby's fingers, Harry was clean, in a fresh set of pyjamas and tucked tightly into the bed.

Mr Harry is fine, but Mr Severus should save that spell for when Mr Severus's knot is too sore for anything else." Dobby said, hands on hips. "Mr Harry isn't in heat yet. If Mr Severus doesn't mind a suggestion, maybe a trip out of the house for a few hours would be a good idea."

"Um, yes." Severus realised that Harry's pheromones may have had a rather detrimental effect on alpha brain function.

"I will come and get you if Mr Harry needs you." Dobby said, shooing Severus to the door. Another snap of his fingers, and Severus found himself clean and fully dressed, and not five minutes later he and Hermione were being ushered into the floo.

The landing at the aged and rarely used Wiltshire floo station was bumpy, and Severus stumbled a little as he exited, still clutching the toast that was all the breakfast Dobby had allowed him before kicking him out of the flat. Fortunately, other than a crumpled looking security wizard napping in the corner, there didn't seem to be anyone around to see. Severus chewed on the toast while he regained his faculties and waited for Hermione.

"Oof," Hermione said and she skidded out of the floo. "Are you sure you repaired that properly?"

Severus shrugged. "Probably not. I've come to realise that Harry's pheromones may have temporarily made off with several IQ points."

"Oh, lovely," Hermione replied. "Glad I didn't know that before I stepped into it." She gave a wary glance over at the fireplace she just stepped out of. "Please tell me you'll have a professional have a look before I get back."

"Unlikely," Severus said, smirking slightly. "I'm going to be a bit busy for the next few days."

Hermione rolled her eyes and strode off out of the building. 

~

Severus sat in a pleasant outdoor café somewhere in Muggle Oxfordshire, and savoured the feeling of being clear-headed for the first time in weeks. Meeting Hermione's parents had been an odd experience; he'd explained that yes, his job offer was genuine, yes, it would help Hermione get into a good university, yes, he was in a relationship with a sixteen year old, and no, he wasn't a paedophile because omegas couldn't remain virgins until reaching an arbitrary legal age without risking serious physical and emotional damage or death.

At that point, the _Cogitatione Consentiunt_ charm which networked across the UK kicked in and Mr and Mrs Granger twitched, went a bit vacant and then happily agreed to everything Severus said.

Hermione had just rolled her eyes and wandered off to do whatever teenage witches got up when their Muggle parents had learned a little more than they should about the wizarding world and had been zapped into a forgetful and agreeable haze.

Severus could sympathise with the Grangers – he felt like his own brain had been working at half power for the last few weeks. He had planned to work on several promising lines of research over the summer, and now they were into August and all he'd been doing was shagging Harry and reacting to all the strange baggage he'd brought with him.

Severus took a sip of tea and surreptitiously checked his watch. The Harry hand was sitting between 'horny' and 'eating'. His own hand was twitching from 'consorting with Muggles' to 'thinking'. There had been too much reacting to unexpected events, and not enough planning. He waved over the waitress and ordered a slice of cake, sugar was always good for getting the brain working, and now that he was temporarily free from Harry's pheromones, Severus intended to make the most of it.

Half an hour and another pot of tea later, Severus was feeling more in control, and had developed a slight sunburn. He'd just motioned the waitress over for the bill when Dobby popped into sight. The Muggles all went slack-faced and vacant.

"Dobby! What the f…"

"Master Severus has to come NOW!" Dobby said, grabbing Severus by the wrist. 

Well, here we go, thought Severus as the unpleasantly spongey feeling of being elf-ported wrapped around his limbs and flung him into the void.


	12. Family Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus really needs to get that floo fixed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks. Thank you so much for the concerned messages. No, I'm not dead, yes, I am ill. Don't worry, it's not anything life-threatening. As some of you know, earlier this year I had a bit of a health scare, which turned out to be something far less serious than we all expected. I had minor surgery, and all was well. Or so we thought. It turns out I had not one medical condition but two, which are completely unrelated to each other, but have similar symptoms to each other and something worse, hence why everyone thought it was the big scary C word. One condition was fixed with my first surgery, the other I am now adjusting to living with, as it's not something which can be cured, just managed. It's been a difficult few months, with a couple of surgeries, but I am doing okay. I have another surgery scheduled for next month, but again - just a minor little thing. I can now boast that I have had two organs pulled out of my belly button, which will no doubt entertain small nieces and nephews at Christmas!
> 
> Anyway! If I die (I'm not going to die), my sister will log in and let you all know, and you all have my permission to write your own endings.
> 
> This is not the chapter I planned to write, and it's really only the first quarter of what was supposed to be One Epic Chapter of Extreme Fucking, but I feel like I should give you something for sticking with me for so long. More soon(ish). Probably. Unless something else goes wrong. Although seriously, what else could go wrong? They've tested my entire body, inside and out, like they're hoping to find the Holy fucking Grail. There is nothing else left to find.

The smell of toast and bacon woke Harry up. He yawned, and stretched, then blinked when his glasses were popped onto his face, and a slice of toast slipped into his hand. "What…"

"Master Severus has taken Miss Hermione home," Dobby said, bustling around the room, dropping a lap tray with breakfast on the bed and then reaching for the laundry basket. "You are to rest this morning, and to let Dobby know if you are starting to feel ready for breeding."

Harry felt his face going bright red and bit down on his toast so he didn't have to answer. He kept chewing until Dobby and the laundry disappeared with a pop, off to wherever Dobby and dirty laundry went to when they weren't in the flat. Severus had tried to explain Elf-Space and Wizard-Space to him, but it had all gone over his head. Harry sighed and mentally resolved to at least start reading some of the books Severus had bought him.

The bacon tasted a bit odd, so Harry stuck to tea and toast. It wasn't until he realised the self-filling teapot had refilled twice, and the tea was getting that magically stretched flavour, that Harry realised he was superhydrating – one of the very early stages of heat.

Another early stage struck when he reached the bathroom. While he was well aware of why his body tried to clean everything out of his digestive tract, it still wasn't a pleasant process to go through. The relief when the cramps and mess subsided was huge, and Harry indulged in a long hot bath afterwards. The warm water and the bubbles were soothing and sensual all at once, and Harry had just decided that a nap, and possibly a quick wank, were in order when the floo started to make strange grinding noises.

Harry quickly towelled himself off and pulled on the loose cotton trousers and tee shirt that had appeared at some point during his bath. "Dobby?"

Dobby popped into view. "I don't think Master Severus did a very good job of repairing the floo."

Harry tucked his wand behind his right ear and ventured forth, just in time to see a very old wizard fall out of the fireplace. 

"Oh dear," said the wizard, "that's really not what I meant to do. Andromeda!"

A second figure tumbled out of the floo, a witch this time, and helped the elderly wizard to his feet.

Harry gripped his wand firmly and stepped into their line of sight. "Hello, can I help you?" Harry said, mind racing through the meagre collection shielding spells he knew.

"We are so sorry," the witch said, batting soot off her skirt. "We were only trying to floo call, but Uncle Charlie fell right in. He got a little over excited."

Harry glanced at Uncle Charlie, who was staring at Harry with tears in his eyes. He looked vaguely familiar, but Harry couldn't place him. "I'm Harry, were you looking for Severus – Professor Snape?"

"James!" Uncle Charlie said, his voice tapering off into a sob.

"Um," Harry said, suddenly realising that these were probably potential relatives, or at least people who had known James Potter really well. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

The witch gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, yes please. I'm Andromeda Tonks, and this is my uncle, Charlus Potter."

"Ah," Harry said. Definitely potential relatives. He motioned towards the sitting room, and made vague 'please bring tea' gestures to Dobby, who was still peering around the bathroom door.

Andromeda helped Mr Potter into an armchair, then plopped down onto the sofa. "You have no idea who we are, do you?

Harry sat down and wondered if the itchy feeling all down his back was nerves or another heat symptom. "Severus said he thought I might be James Potter's son. They went to school together, and apparently I look like him."

"You do," Andromeda said. "James was a bit taller, but yes – you're the spitting image of him when he was at school."

Dobby appeared and deftly served tea while Harry awkwardly shifted in his seat and tried not to notice the quiet sobs coming from Charlus Potter. "Are we cousins, Mrs Tonks?"

"Family call me Dromeda, dear. We're second cousins – your grandmother Dorea, Uncle Charlie's wife, was my Grandfather Black's youngest sister."

"James was a late baby," Charlus said, swallowing back his tears and a large gulp of tea. "We'd given up on having children, then suddenly there he was, a little miracle. When he died, I thought I'd be the last of the Potters."

"Um," Harry said, "my name is Harry Evans."

Charlus put his teacup down with a thump. "You're a Potter if I say you are. And I do say you are. We'll have to toss some blood at a Ministry minion to get the paperwork changed, but there's no doubt in my mind."

"Harry, are you happy here?" Andromeda asked. "I can see you're bonded to your Professor, but as a Potter, there could be ways around that, if you wanted? You could have your pick of…"

"I love Severus!" Harry shouted, then slapped his hands over his mouth and wondered where on earth that had come from. Severus was mostly kind and was amazing in bed, but Harry hadn't really been thinking anything about romance or love.

Charlus started weeping again, and Andromeda started laughing. "That's wonderful, dear. I hear he's quite dashing."

Charlus blew his nose then sniffed the air. "Oh good God, Harry, are you going into heat?"

Harry blushed. "Maybe. I think so. I've never had one before." He squirmed on his seat, then realised he was sitting in a wet patch.

"Bloody Hell!" Andromeda leapt up. "Where's that house elf? Elf! Elf!"

Dobby appeared and took one look at Harry, who now felt like his whole body was being licked by increasingly heated and scratchy cat tongues, and nodded. "I'll go and collect the Master. I'd use the front door if I was you." Then he popped away again.

Andromeda hauled Charlus out of the chair and tugged him towards the door. "It was lovely to meet you, and we will absolutely be back next week once you're… feeling better, but we very much need to go right now."

Charlus staggered a little. "Oh yes, if I was twenty years younger, we'd have a very embarrassing situation on our hands."

"Ew." Andromeda tugged harder and they disappeared into the hall. Harry felt like he should show them out, but his legs felt like rubber, and his head was buzzing, and he barely registered the front door slamming as they made their exit.

Harry reached down and rubbed his painfully hard cock in surprise. With everything else going on, he hadn't even noticed it, but now his cock and his arse were all he could think about. He struggled out of his clothes and then with a pop that was really more of a boom, Dobby and Severus were standing right in front of him.

"Do me," Harry said, flinging his soaking wet trousers on the floor. "Now."

Severus's eyes widened and he grabbed Harry. "I can smell another Alpha in here. Was someone trying to poach you? They can't have you, you're mine!"

Harry rubbed his face against Severus's shirt. "All yours. Every bit. Especially my bum. I want you in my… yikes!" Harry reached down from where he'd been thrown over Severus's shoulder and groped Severus. "Your bum is nice too."

Harry was vaguely aware of Severus talking to Dobby as he dangled over Severus's shoulder on the way to the bedroom, but he could feel his awareness of everything but his need slipping away...


	13. Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title explains all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it's been nine months since I added to this. It's not been my health - don't worry, I am a LOT better. In fact, I've only had to see my doctor twice in 2016, compared to 2015, when I saw her 11 times plus three trips to A&E and three surgeries. I've just been busy at work, busy with family, and for the last month, Pokemon fucking Go. Seriously, it is the crack of phone apps. I have dropped two dress sizes because of all the walking - it makes a nice change to lose weight from being healthy instead of from illness, but it can be awkward at work when people assume my shrinking butt is due to me getting sick and not telling anyone about it.
> 
> Anyway! I can't promise to update regularly, it took me almost 3 years to write the first story in the series, but I do intend to continue. Just, probably not quickly. Sorry!
> 
> BTW, this really should have been the second half of the last chapter, so it's still Harry's POV, instead of Severus's. I'm a bit OCD about the alternating POV, so if this annoys you, I KNOW, ME TOO.

Now that he could smell Severus, everything seemed to step up a notch. In one way it felt like falling down a deep dark hole, in another it was like being lit from inside like his magic had turned white hot. Harry felt raw magic whip around him like tree branches in a high wind. He could feel the crackle of it against his skin and tried to pull it back in, but it slipped out of his grasp. Everything was too intense, too out of control…

"STOP." Severus's voice rolled over him like oil, calming the magic which settled back under his skin.

"I can't… I need…" Harry wanted to scream and lash out and force Severus to do something, but he couldn't even tell which way was up.

"I know what you need," Severus's voice soothed him again, and Harry felt fabric under his hands and face.

Harry was just about able to identify that the bed was under him, then Severus was on top on him, pressing him down, and Harry felt the blessed relief of Severus sliding his cock up between his thighs.

"In me, in me, please." Harry wailed, as he felt Severus push his legs apart. Then everything whited out for a moment as Severus shoved in hard. Harry yelled, overwhelmed by it, could there be anything more intense that being fucked in the arse by Severus Snape?

Harry sprawled on the bed enjoying the rough push and pull inside him for several minutes before he realised his body was starting to hurt in a new way. The fucking was fantastic, but it wasn't quite right. He started to struggle, not sure what was wrong, but that each thrust was tugging and pushing at something inside him, and it hurt in a way that felt both right and terrifying at the same time. Harry tried to shove at Severus, who was still crushing him into the mattress and pistoning into him with ruthless efficiency.

"Sever…" Harry tried say, before Severus bit down on his bond mark and tipped them both forward. Harry screamed as Severus's cock forced in somewhere new, tearing him open. Harry felt his body clamp down hard on Severus's cock. The pain was blinding for a moment, then Harry's body started pulsing with pleasure, and Harry realised his body was clenching down with his heartbeat, then relaxing with an endorphin rush – he'd read about it on one the webpages Hermione had linked him to – his body was caressing Severus's cock, encouraging him to knot and fill him with the thicker and more potent Alpha semen that an Alpha could only release while knotted.

Harry had a moment of clarity – he didn't want children yet, perhaps he could stop, but it was too late, Harry felt Severus getting bigger inside him, and instead of wriggling away, Harry instinctively clamped down harder, and suddenly they were locked. Like cold water on a hot day, it was perfect. For a moment - until Harry felt the heat madness drain away and he was just a tired and sweaty boy with something the size of a tennis ball stuck up his bum.

"Ow." Harry said.

"Oh fucking hell." Severus said, shuddering. "I can't stop coming, you little trollop, what are you doing?"

"Nothing!" Harry said, indignant. Then his body took over and squeezed, sending Severus over the edge again. "Oops."

"I don't think I can take three days of this." Severus said.

" _You_ can't?" Harry said, indignant. "It's _my_ arse that just got wrecked, you big knob end!" Then he squeezed down around Severus's cock again. "Bugger."

Severus made a strange noise, that Harry realised was him laughing while coming, and started giggling himself, which set his arse to fluttering little contractions, meaning that Severus felt compelled to press Harry back down and grind against him and make them both yell from the sensations.

It was another ten minutes of awkward biological imperatives before their bodies relaxed and let them separate. Harry felt like his whole insides were getting pulled out when the remains of Severus's knot popped out of his arsehole, and only just managed to resist reaching back to find out the state of his bum. A moment's consideration brought him to the realisation that he really didn't want to know.

"Right." Harry said, feeling a bit fragile. "So, that's heat. I thought it was going to feel better than that."

Severus looked stricken. "Did I hurt you? I tried not to."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Nowhere in any of the educational pamphlets did it mention that there's some kind of… maidenhead… to get through when you stop buggering me and go in the… other bit."

"Oh. Yes, I imagine that would be painful." Severus looked really uncomfortable talking about it, and Harry felt a malicious impulse to start talking about some of the sillier stuff he'd found online. He opened his mouth to ask Severus if 'mangina' was a real thing when Severus rolled over and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'll try to make sure the rest of the heat is better for you."

Harry sighed, pressed his face against Severus's sweaty neck and then took a deeper sniff. He could feel the magic licking around him, and knew it wouldn't be long before he was begging for a cock in the arse again. "I'm fine. I did like it, mostly. And judging by the mess I'm lying on, I was enjoying it even when I wasn't."

Severus chuckled and cupped one of Harry's breasts, sending a soft warm thrill down to Harry's aching arse. "We may have to buy new bedding. Laundering this would traumatise Dobby."

"Well, in that case," Harry said, pushing Severus onto his back, "we might as well completely destroy it." Harry ignored the twinge in his hips as he swung his leg over Severus and took a deep breath before sinking his arse down over Severus's cock, which wasn't completely hard but soon perked up at being back in its favourite place.

"Trollop." Severus said, his eyes half lidded, and his hands reaching up to torment Harry's breasts.

Harry leaned into Severus's touch. "Knob."

"You love annoying me so I'll fuck you harder, don't you?" Severus said, rubbing his thumbs over Harry's painfully hard nipples.

"Well, it always works, and I'm lazy." Harry said, working himself up and then tilting his hips on the way back down so that Severus's cock slid into place. Harry shivered. "Oh, that feels odd."

"Mmm," Severus groaned. "Tighter too. And it felt like it was sucking me when your arse was trying to crush my knot."

"Oh God, your knot," Harry moaned, moving faster, "I want it again."

"I thought you didn't like it?" Severus said, letting go of Harry's breasts so he could watch them bounce.

"I'm an idiot," Harry said. "It's brilliant, knot me again. Please Severus, I need it." Harry squeezed deliberately as he bounced up and down, to encourage the knot, and was rewarded by Severus growling and rolling them over so he could fuck deeper into Harry's arse. Harry shouted in joy and let the heat carry him away again.


	14. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Definitely aftermath, rather than afterglow. Where everyone is in a bad mood and incapable of sitting comfortably.

Severus felt like someone had briskly rubbed a lemon zester over his crotch. 

He'd woken that morning to the acrid 'keep-away' scent of an omega no longer in heat and had ended up on the floor when he tried to get away from it. Fortunately Dobby had arrived promptly and had started pouring various healing and energising potions over and into everything, before porting Severus to the bed in the reading room.

Now it was evening, Harry was still asleep, and Severus had a cramp in his back from the small bed.

"We need a larger flat," Severus said to the air, as he gingerly made his way into the living room, where coffee and scrambled eggs, and a collection of his best medicinal potions and salves, were waiting for him. He briefly considered Spinner's End, but there were too many bad memories there, the rent generated by the house was a useful extra income, and he actually liked the family that had moved in.

Severus sprayed some numbing oil down the front of his pyjamas, his oldest and softest pair, which still felt like sandpaper on his cock and balls, then settled down to eat and catch up on the news he'd missed in the last… 4 days? It hadn't felt that long. Of maybe it had felt like longer. The whole thing was a blur of cocks and arses and Harry's lovely lovely tits. He shuddered at the memory of forcing himself into Harry's arse over and over again, the noises Harry made every time the knot inflated inside him, and the way Harry's arse grabbed at and squeezed at him, urging him to get bigger and harder and pump more and more…

Severus's cock twitched, and he almost screamed. He squirted a little more painkiller over everything and settled down with the papers.

The first day of heat had basically been a rehash of the same incest rumours, nothing new except for an interview with a former student with a grudge. The Prophet had gleefully printed Patricia Parkinson's story of a lecherous professor taking advantage of a naive young student, and had somehow missed the fact that she had been sent down for inappropriate conduct, namely that she'd slipped a lust potion into the university water supply, then contrived to be locked into his office with him right after his morning cup of tea.

By day two, it looked like someone had actually done some investigating, Patricia was not in evidence anywhere, and the circumstances of Lily's death had come out. The headlines screamed 'Son of Riddle?' and 'Dark Lord's Secret Love Child' and other such nonsense. Severus skimmed through them, but as he doubted the Ministry would let the newspapers panic the public, it wasn't worth stressing over.

Day three was immensely satisfying. The Ministry had released a statement about Harry's blood tests, firmly debunking the mad theories about Harry's parentage, and saying in no uncertain terms that while Harry was indeed descended from the prestigious Peverell bloodline, it was a different branch than the one which had spawned Tom Riddle, and as the esteemed Professor Snape was not a descendant of the Peverell line, no familial connection had been found. Underneath was an exposé on the exploits of Patricia Parkinson – apparently after turning the university into a huge orgy, she had escaped Azkaban by fleeing to Hungary and becoming the concubine of one of Grindlewald's advisers. He had recently grown tired of her, and she had returned to England penniless and friendless, and had seen an opportunity to make some money by selling tales to the papers. The Prophet painted this as the ruthless machinations of a devious and manipulative woman, everyone else tended more towards mocking the Prophet for being gullible and in a rush to publish anything that sounded even slightly juicy, and speculated that Professor Snape or Grindlewald University may be preparing a libel case.

Day four was a revelation. Charlus Potter had come out of seclusion long enough to state that Harry was his grandson, and request privacy for the family during a turbulent time. He managed to make it sound like Harry had been a recognised member of the family for some time, and all the froth in the papers was some confusing silliness someone had made up to upset an elderly and frail wizard. It was a masterful piece of PR, and Severus was mildly surprised that a family that had produced James Potter, an over-privileged bully of mediocre intelligence, could have some up with it.

Severus put down the paper just in time to see Harry limp, bandy-legged, into the room with his face screwed up into an expression of profound disgust.

"What is that smell?" Harry asked.

"You," said Severus, breathing through his mouth. "Omegas are very fragile once heat has finished, so they give off a repelling stink. Only a woman could get close to you right now – anything with a penis wants to get away."

Harry considered the sofa, scowled, and then lay sideways on it. "Including you?"

"Especially me," Severus said, opening all the windows and setting the strongest circulation charm he knew. The stench eased off a little. "Your perception of certain smells might be a bit off for a few days as well. I imagine you're not as fond of my scent now as you were last week."

Harry sniffed, and made a face. "Blech."

"I think we're going to need a larger flat." Severus said, tossing the papers to Harry. "Here, you may be interested in seeing what's been going on while you were squealing for a knotting. I'm going to my lab, help yourself to any of the healing potions, just make sure you read the instructions properly."

The lab was a blessed relief. Harry had never been in here, and the climate control charms had kept any trace of him out. It was an oasis of calm and tranquillity. Severus sat down gingerly on his lab stool, and pulled out some parchment – it would probably be best if Miss Granger came a few days early. God knows, Severus had no desire to deal with a smelly grumpy omega with a sore arse for however long it took for things to settle down.

Dobby appeared at Severus's elbow, scowling and with a guilty demeanour at the same time. "Master Severus, I'm afraid Dobby is having a problem with the smell. Master Harry needs assistance with putting potions in private places, and Dobby is afraid he is unable to help."

Severus finished his note to Hermione and thrust it at Dobby. "Please deliver this to Miss Granger, and request that she come immediately."

Dobby took the letter and hesitated. "By floo?"

"How else? Unless you're volunteering to elf port her here?"

Dobby shrugged, "That might be best, the floo is not working again."

Severus sighed. "I suppose I didn't do a very good job of fixing it, my mind was on other things."

"Um," Dobby said, hunching over a little.

"What?"

Dobby straightened up. "There were people trying to get in – reporters and people from the Ministry, and other people, so I closed it, and now it won't open again."

"Oh for…" Severus noted Dobby slumping down again. "You did the right thing, the last thing we needed was visitors. I should have shut everything down when I got back, but…"

"You were not prepared for the madness, Master Severus. For elves it is the same – one moment we are doing the ironing, then next we must breed."

Severus could barely tolerate thinking about shagging Harry at the moment, contemplating elf mating was far more than his state of mind could take. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He made shooing gestures towards Dobby, who still looked guilty. "Is there something else?"

"Before I came and got you, and I closed the floo, some people came through." Dobby was wringing his hands, a sure precursor for slamming his head in a drawer.

"What people?" Severus said, remembering the faint scent of Alpha in the room when he'd arrived to find Harry covered in sweat and desperate sexual arousal.

"Master Harry's grandfather," Dobby said, his lip trembling, "and… and Mistress Malfoy's sister!"

It took a moment for Severus to remember that Bellatrix Black was dead and Narcissa had another sister. The black sheep of the family, who had married a muggleborn. Andromeda Black had been a Slytherin, Severus remembered, and connected the dots to that press release from Charlus Potter. The Potters and the Blacks had always had close ties, and with the lack of any other heirs for the remains of the Potter fortune, it wouldn't be surprising that an enterprising and disinherited branch of the Black family had latched on.

"We shall have to ask them to dinner. In a week or two." Severus said. "Once Harry is better company."

Dobby blinked. "Once Harry is better company, of course."

"What?" Severus said, irritated by the tone.

"Nothing," Dobby squeaked. "I'll just go deliver this now."

Dobby disappeared, and Severus rolled his eyes. Hopefully the Granger chit would arrive soon, he had far more important things to deal with than petulant omegas and impertinent elves.

Like developing a better healing potion for knot abrasion.


	15. Nageur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione to the rescue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to anyone who doesn't have a medical kink. I'm trying to keep my fascination with alternate physiology entertaining instead of scientifically curious, but it keeps getting away from me. Having recently experienced all the delights of a colonoscopy, I may be using this as some sort of cheap therapy...
> 
> Also, I am now reduced to writing in Open Office, which I'm not familiar with, on an ancient crappy laptop, which is running Vista of the hellish things, so you may sense some frustration coming through. Writing is NOT FUN at the moment.

Harry had woken up sore and alone. There had been a moment where he considered feeling upset about that, but then the relief had kicked in. Just the thought of Severus coming at him again with a hard cock was enough to turn his stomach, so he'd rolled out of bed, thankful that someone had obviously poured some healing potion in both ends while he was still asleep, and headed for the shower. The shower was where he started noticing the smell. In the bedroom, the smell of stale heat had drowned everything out, but now the smell of copper pennies, dying flowers and rotting meat seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.

"Blech," Harry had said, getting out of the shower, and drying off. "Probably some potions fuckery."

Two minutes in the company of Severus Fucking Snape put paid to that theory. Harry lay on the sofa feeling sorry for himself, his aching arse, and his brand new B.O problem. "Dobby!" Harry yelled, trying not to feel pathetic.

Dobby appeared at the end of the sofa. "Yes, Master... urk." 

"Oh for God's sake, not you too?" Harry said, glaring as Dobby backed away towards the door. "I need something for my arse – it feels like Severus left a handful of thistles up there!"

Dobby nodded, gagged and vanished, and moments later a jar of Mrs Pennyworth's Omega Relief dropped out of the air and landed on the rug in front of Harry. 

"Thanks," Harry said, hoping Dobby could hear the sarcasm.

Once he'd finally managed, with the aid of his wand, to get the relief where it was needed, Harry sat and sulked for two minutes, until he got bored enough to read the papers Severus had flung at him; just before he'd fled into his hidey hole like the arrogant, arse-destroying twat he so obviously was. Harry relished every detail of a devastating expose of Severus's sordid affair with a student with glee. His arse twinged a bit at the pervier bits, but Harry mentally told his libido to fuck off, and kept reading. It was juicy stuff, and Harry was disappointed when a later paper pointed out that it had mostly all been made up by the woman making the claims. Having recently experienced the full force of Severus's depravity, Harry was fairly sure the while she might have made up how they ended up shagging, the actual details of the shagging itself were probably fairly accurate.

When Harry got to the next paper, and read about how he'd been named a member of the Potter family, he buried his burning face in the sofa cushions and tried not to cry. It hurt to know that there was family out there that had wanted him. That all those years living in a cupboard, with relatives who hated him might never have happened. That he...

Then Harry remembered what he was. If he hadn't been locked away at school, he'd have been handed over to an alpha years ago. He might even have had a baby or two by now. Harry curled up, the bulge of his stomach, full of trapped alpha semen, under his hands. Was he pregnant now? Could there be the start of a black-haired son or daughter already growing in there? 

"Oh God," Harry wailed, suddenly sure that any child born to them would have a vicious temper.

A knock at the front door disturbed Harry's horrified ponderings. He debated with himself about getting up and answering it, but decided everyone in the universe could fuck off and die, and he rolled over to face the back of the sofa, pulled a cushion over his head, and ignored everything.

"This'll be the post-heat melancholia," Hermione said, from the doorway. 

Dobby was obviously still around to open doors for people, just not around for anything useful. "You can come in, you know," Harry said, his voice muffled by the cushion, but his eyes squinting over the top. "The smell won't actually kill you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I know you're not that observant, but I'm actually a girl, which means I can't smell the Nageur."

"The what?" Harry was glad to see Hermione, but he couldn't help being irritated that she obviously knew more about his body than he did right now.

"The Nageur, from the Dutch 'na geur', meaning 'after smell' or 'after scent'. The pheromones given off by an omega after heat, which trigger a biochemical reaction in any male mammal's brain that tell it to register the pheromone as a strong repulsive smell. It's said to be different for alphas, omegas and betas, but equally repulsive. And women can't smell it at all – the pheromone becomes inert when it hits a female nose."

"So you can't smell me at all?" Harry sat up, slightly cheered.

"Well, it's not really a smell – the pheromone itself is odourless, it's just a messenger telling your brain to interpret it that way. Did you know that witches used to collect the Nageur and bottle it as a defence against ravishment? In medieval times, women weren't taught the same fighting spells as men, so they used to use Essence of Nageur to repel anyone who wouldn't take no for an answer. There's a whole book in Professor Snape's reading room about how to collect it, and the different types of potions you can make, and bottles which explode when they detect male arousal. It really is fascinating." Hermione plopped down on the sofa beside Harry. "Can I collect some to experiment on?"

Harry shrugged. "Fine." Then he thought about it again. "Wait – what does collection involve? If it's just wave a wand, fine, if it's scraping the skin off my scrotum or anything, not just no, but nooooooo."

Hermione grinned. "Somewhere in between." She sniffed, "Have you just showered? That's a shame."

Harry made a face. "I was all... crusty."

"You just finished today? Wow, four days. You must be hungry."

Harry was about to say that he wasn't hungry at all, thank you very much, but then he realised he was ravenous. His stomach growled, "I could eat a scabby horse right now."

Tea and toast went a long way to making Harry feel better, and listening to Hermione doing her best impression of an audio textbook was familiar and relaxing. Even educational, when Harry forgot to be resentful of his idiot biology.

"I suppose I'm stuck in the house until I stop ponking up the place?" Harry said, not actually that bothered about staying in the flat.

"Ha!" Hermione snorted. "I can just see you walking down the Royal Mile. The Edinburgh Festival is on right now, and it's wall to wall mimes, unicyclists and people painted gold out there. You'd cause a stampede."

Harry mentally recoiled at the thought of being around so many people, which was strange, because he'd been quite keen on taking a look at the some of the Festival events before the Heat. 

"You don't want to go out, do you?" Hermione asked.

Harry slumped back on the cushions. "No. Omega Hormone Fuckery again?"

Hermione winced at the swearing, then gave Harry a wry grin that indicated that she'd remembered they weren't at school, they wouldn't be going back and they could do and say whatever they wanted. "If it makes you feel any better, it's only going to be for a day or two. Then you'll be back to normal." 

"Unless I'm pregnant." Harry added, making an exaggerated horrified face.

Hermione's face was doing something that looked like trying to be serious when it wanted to giggle. "That's not likely. You didn't even have boobs a month ago, and it's really unusual for Omegas to get pregnant at the first heat."

"Yes, because I'm a typical Omega?" Harry stared gloomily into his teacup, wondering if the glob of tea leaves at the bottom of his cup was a baby's cot or a cage. What little Divination they'd been taught at school had been pretty useless, but neither option seemed promising. He heard Hermione huff.

"Yes, you're a special snowflake, now please rub this cotton swab all over your armpit."

The next two days carried on in the same vein. Severus only ventured out of his lair for food and his daily dose of scowling, Dobby had vanished entirely, and Hermione see-sawed between being supportive to being ruthlessly scientific. Harry drew the line at her cotton swabs going into his underwear, but unfortunately she'd taken this to mean she could put them everywhere else, sometimes with very little warning.

Harry was fending off her attempts to collect ear wax when a huge cramp hit. It felt like someone had stabbed him down through the navel and out his arse. "Oh God," he wheezed. "Bathroom."

Hermione froze, her eyes wide. "Oh, do you..."

"Bathroom NOW!" Harry said, stumbling toward the door.

"Right," Hermione said, obviously back on track as she slipped her arm under Harry's and started helping him. "Do you want me in there too, or would you..."

"No. Nope. Definitely not a spectator sport this one." Harry couldn't think of much worse than his best friend watching him poop out three day old spunk, and potentially a ton of gunky bloody not-needed-for-a-baby stuff. They made it to the bathroom and Harry slammed the door and spelled off his clothes.

"Remember," Hermione said from the other side of the door, "Red for not pregnant. Anything else..."

"I know," Harry said, curled around the pain in his stomach. "Now excuse me if I swear, but I'm about to have all the pain and mess you have over three days concentrated down into 10 minutes." He sat down, took a deep breath and started screaming.


	16. Blood and Malfoys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of Heat Drama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I aten't ded!
> 
> Typing this on a Bluetooth keyboard into my phone, while flat on my back in bed. Irritation versus boredom. Please excuse any errors - the autocorrect on this kept trying to turn Lucius into Luscious. Please let me know if I missed any.

Severus glared at his beakers - nothing was going right, and there was no escape from it all. If he left his study, the place was crawling with teenagers, and stink, and if he stayed in his study, he couldn't concentrate. He didn't know why he had ever thought that getting an omega was a good idea - it was rotting his brain, his greatest asset. He didn't even really like children, it was just the knowledge that a bonded Alpha received far more respect that an Alpha who had only female or beta partners.

Severus shifted, and a faint scent of Nageur rose from his clothes. Then he heard muffled shouting coming from the flat. That decided it - the brat had to go. Severus threw open the door, and strode in the direction of the noise. As he got closer, the rage which had been a constant companion for days seemed to drain slowly away, leaving him confused and uncertain. The brat, Harry's, friend... it took Severus a moment to make the connection, Hermione, was sitting at the bathroom door, and Severus shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his mind as she scrambled to her feet.

"What...?" Severus started to say.

"Are you okay, Professor?" Hermione asked.

Suddenly the world clicked back into place, and Severus realised Harry was in pain, and why. "Go to the study and get the green bottle with the yellow stopper in the shape of a lotus." Hermione rushed off and Severus stepped forward and pressed his hand against the door. "Harry, I've sent Hermione for some painkilling potion. Can I come in?"

"No!" Harry yelled, the sound trailing off into a whine. "Don't come in!"

"You need the potion." Severus said, and Hermione appeared at his elbow.

"Yes, Harry. You'll feel better if you take it. Please let one of us in."

Severus realised that he could feel Harry again through their bond. He'd somehow managed to distance himself from the bond over the last few days, but now it was back, and he could feel Harry's emotions again. Foremost was pain, with an undercurrent of relief and guilt. 

The lock on the door clicked open. "Just Hermione," Harry said.

Severus tried not to feel hurt by that, but given how they'd been behaving towards each other, it was only fair. He started to mentally sift through the memories of the last few days, as Hermione slipped through the door and it slammed shut and locked behind her. He heard the sound of the beaker popping open and a sigh of relief, and then tried not to be outraged when a silencing charm snapped up around the bathroom. For all that she was a vague irritant in Severus's life, there was no denying the fact that Hermione was an outstanding chaperone. Thinking back, trapped in the flat together, without a mediator between them, he and Harry probably would have come to blows several days ago. 

Severus sat down and leaned back against the door. Trapped - they hadn't been trapped - either of them could have left at any time. But they hadn't. They couldn't bear each other, but they couldn't leave each other either. Severus tried to send reassurance and apologies through the bond, but as far as he could tell, nothing was getting through. They'd never discussed the bond, Severus didn't even know if it went both ways and Harry could feel what he feeling.

The door clicked back open, and Hermione emerged, obviously nervous but also determined. Severus decided to derail whatever was about to happen.

"I know there's no pregnancy."

Hermione gave a sigh, doubtless of relief. "No. The painkiller helped, he's a bit spaced out, and he's worried you'll be disappointed."

Severus considered that for a moment. Half an hour ago, he was ready to throw Harry out on the street, and now he wanted nothing more than to hold him and tell him everything was going to be fine.

"Harry isn't ready for children. To be honest, I don't think I am either. We need a bigger home for a start - where would we put a baby?"

Severus realised he must have said something right, because suddenly he was having the life squeezed out of him by both Harry and Hermione.

An hour later, Severus was standing in the kitchen, eating cheese on toast with Harry, his with Worcester sauce like a civilised human being, Harry's with ketchup - an abomination that Severus nevertheless found hopelessly endearing.

"These potions you do," Harry started saying, then paused and took a bite of toast.

"Yes?"

"Can they stop heats?" Harry looked guilty. "I know omegas are supposed to be..."

Severus held up a hand interrupting Harry. "Forget what omegas are supposed to be. You are yourself, and since you were raised without any expectation of what an omega should be, you're probably acting far more on your natural urges than most omegas."

Harry looked thoughtful, and Severus could feel Harry was concentrating hard enough to mask the cheerful enjoyment of the food. "You didn't enjoy heat." Severus stated.

"Hmm, not exactly." Harry said. "It was more that we weren't us during heat - we were just bodies overcome with sex and then we were so..."

"Alpha/Omega instincts are strong, but remember that this is very new to us, and we've both gone through a sort of bonding puberty very rapidly. Things will settle down." Severus chose his words carefully. "Heat suppressants are illegal and can be dangerous, but I have done research in the past which could be useful to control the worst aspects of heat. Your unconventional upbringing could be useful - we could blame the chastity charms during your development if people think it odd your heats are more... widely spaced."

“You - are a very sneaky person,” Harry said, smirking slightly. “I like it.”

“And you're as open as a book,” Severus replied. “Which reminds me - can you feel the bond?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Unless I've suddenly developed an obsession with potions, floo mechanics and being smug in the presence of Malfoys, yeah... little bit.” Harry paused a moment. “Actually, ignore that last one - I'm pretty sure that was a joint effort.”

Hermione poked her head through the door. “Right, I'm off. I won't be late. I'm going to use the floo down the street, I think yours is hiccuping.” Then she was gone before anyone could reply.

“Where is she off to?” Severus asked. 

Harry made some kind of teenagerish sigh. “She has a boyfriend. One of Ginny Weasley's interchangeable ginger brothers.”

Severus opened his mouth to complain, but Harry held up one finger. "She deserves a day off. You were an arsehole." Harry grimaced. "And I was sulky whiny mess."

"Instinct is a strange creature." Severus chewed his toast and thought back on the last few weeks. "We should have a couple of months of respite, longer if the potions work."

"Is all this..." Harry gestured between them, "...why Mr Malfoy hates omegas?"

Severus paused for a moment, unsure of how much to say. "I'm sure it doesn't help, but Lucius' issues with omegas are... complicated."

Harry made a 'go on' gesture with his toast,and Severus sighed.

"I suppose it's not a secret. The Malfoys came from Normandy in 1066 with William the Conqueror and quickly integrated into the local magical population. Before the invasion, around 20% of the magical male population in Great Britain and Ireland were either alpha or omega, and people married however they pleased. It was customary for a high born head of a magical family to be an alpha, born from an omega - this was seen as the best way to ensure a strong family. These alphas traditionally had a bonded omega, to breed the next heir, a wife, as hostess and the official 'mother' of any children when dealing with muggles, and at least one low status or muggle mistress, to increase the magical population.

"In Europe, the tradition was different - alphas only had children with omegas, and any beta sons married women. After 1066, the upper classes adopted the European traditions, but because of the much smaller population, and the fact that not all alpha/omega pairings produce alpha or omega children, and beta/women pairings never do, the percentage of alphas and omegas in the population started dropping. At the start of the 18th century fewer than 100 British family lines still produced alpha or omega children,and inbreeding started to become a problem."

"Okay, "Harry said, "but what does that have to do with Mr Malfoy?"

"The Malfoys were always very vocal about the dangers of inbreeding. Although proud of their pureblood status, they were resistant to the idea of bonding into their own bloodlines, often bringing in omegas from Germanic or Scandinavian countries if a suitable omega with no blood connection was available, and following the old ways of having an omega, a wife and a mistress. Lucius' father, Abraxas, was extremely outspoken in his criticism of Lord Grindelwald's decree that all omegas must be bonded and bred. He had married a high born German woman and had produced an alpha son - Lucius - and believed that the decree would worsen the UK's inbreeding problem.

"Lord Grindelwald does not take criticism well. He ordered Abraxas Malfoy and his wife to present themselves to the Hungarian court. Abraxas returned without his wife, or much higher reasoning. Lord Grindelwald had burned out most of his mind. And to add insult to injury, he'd also ensured that while in Hungary, Abraxas stumbled across an omega in heat, and ended up bonded - to a half-sibling."

Harry scrunched up his face. "Ew. You're actually making me feel sorry for Lucius Malfoy."

"And I'm not finished." Severus said. "The new Malfoy omega was insane, and Abraxas was missing some critical marbles. The family walled itself up in Malfoy Manor for almost a decade. No one knows for sure what happened in there, but there are rumours of numerous pregnancies, babies born with horrible deformities, insanity ruling the house, mating heats taking place in front of staff and other family members, infanticide - finally, Malfoy Manor burned down killing everyone inside. Only Lucius, who was at school, survived."

"Yikes." Harry said.

"Yes." Severus stretched his arms above his head, suddenly quite tired. "Also, Lucius is very much in love with his wife, and resented the biology that forced him away from her several times a year."

"He's married to a woman?" 

"Yes, for almost 20 years now." Severus slammed his mouth closed before he shared any secrets he was sworn to keep. "Anyway - enough of Lucius Malfoy. Tell me more about these gingers you and Hermione seem to keep running into."


End file.
